Oh Human Child
by FantasyDeath
Summary: The Sharingans Tsukuyomi is a powerful tool, able to reach the very soul. When Sasuke wakes up the day after his brother killed his entire family, it is with the memories of another life in his head. (Saitama is reborn as Uchiha Sasuke, making the world a very different place.) (Slash, AU, Crossover)
1. Chapter 1

**Oh Human Child**

 **Summary:** The Sharingans Tsukuyomi is a powerful tool, able to reach the very soul. When Sasuke wakes up the day after his brother killed his entire family, it is with the memories of another life in his head. (Saitama is reborn as Uchiha Sasuke, making the world a very different place.)

 **(WARNING! One Punch-Man/Naruto crossover, AU, Slash, Rebirth/Reincarnation, written in present tense (if you find me slipping into past tense, please tell me), highly sporadic updates)**

 **A/N: Unlike my other stories, this is the first one where I'm consciously trying to write in present tense, so if you find me slipping into past tense, I'd very much appreciate it if you told me so I can fix it. Also, this is kind of a side project I work on when I get writer's block on my other stories so updates will forever and always be sporadic. If you have any questions, just PM me.** **Reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Punch-Man or Naruto.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Sasuke wakes up with a thundering headache and a groan as his body's pain makes itself known. For a moment, he wants to block out the world, keep his eyes closed and pretend that nothing's happened. That his brother didn't go insane and kill their entire family, that he didn't see him kill their parents. That everyone isn't gone.

But his headache is bad enough that he knows he needs medicine and all he keeps thinking is _I don't have a brother_. For a moment, he wonders where Genos is, but then he wonders _who_ Genos is and Sasuke (Saitama, his name is Saitama) can't make any sense of it.

He wrenches his eyes open and stares up at the white hospital ceiling. It's been years since he was injured enough to need to go to an hospital (but he broke his wrist two months ago training) and he wonders why he's there. Then he remembers his brother's Sharingan showing him the death of his parents over and over with a genjutsu (what is a genjutsu?) and he thinks the world doesn't make any sense anymore (when has it ever made sense?).

Sasuke scowls and presses the button to call for a nurse (medic-nin, not nurse) and he stubbornly ignores the pounding in his head as he tries to make sense of what his mind is telling him. Itachi-niisan killed their entire family and told him to hate him, told him that he needed to become stronger to kill him. That doesn't make any sense because Sasuke (Saitama) can remember killing things—monsters—with a single punch and he doesn't understand why he would need to be stronger. He knows he can kill his brother easily, even with chakra (what is chakra?) and he doesn't need to become stronger.

The nurse (medic-nin) comes in and gives him medicine for his headache when he asks for it. She looks at him with pity the entire time she's in his room and he ignores any attempt to get him to talk about what he's seen. Sasuke just looks out the window until she leaves the room then he look at his hands that are far too small (no they're not, he's eight) and scowls even more when he finds that he wants his big brother to explain this to him. Itachi would known what is happening, he knows, and Sasuke is to confused to be bothered that he's killed their whole clan. He wants to be mad and rage and _hate_ his brother but he can't think like that. Saitama's (Sasuke's) feelings doesn't work like that. All he feel is a sense of loss and he once again wonders where Genos is when you need him.

But he doesn't know anyone named Genos.

— —

Two weeks later, Sasuke leaves the hospital to go back to living in an empty compound filled with the ghosts of his clan (they're not his family, he doesn't have a clan). The world is still as confusing as it was when he woke up two weeks ago, but he's getting better. He knows that those memories, the ones that insists he doesn't have a brother, is from another life. He doesn't want to think about what that makes him, his life is his alone but sometimes things bleed through. When he first saw his reflection in the mirror, he was stunned to see he had hair, but he can't remember not having it.

Sometimes, the memories are strong and invasive and he can't recall who he is, other times it's like nothing's changed and he's still just Uchiha Sasuke. Except that he remembers being called Saitama-sensei and being a hero for fun. When he thinks of ninjas, he thinks of Sonic that declared himself his rival.

The main house in the Uchiha Compound stands empty when Sasuke enters it and as he makes his way to his room on the second floor, he resists the urge to run away from it and find his apartment (he doesn't have one) and instead lays down sullenly on the bed. He knows he is pouting and he knows he is far to old to do so, but the world is suddenly so very small. Worst of all, he misses his brother and Genos.

Sasuke can't recall who Genos is, and he knows there is no-one in Konoha with a name that strange, but he feels a sense of loss that somehow outweighs the loss of his family (they're _not_ though) and again the thought that Itachi will know what's happening makes him scowl and frown at the white ceiling. He misses his family and his clan, but he misses his brother more and even Genos (who is Genos?) is somehow more important than his dead parents.

Sasuke settles into the routine of living on his own with the ease of someone who has done so for years, though he still feels strange when he's sitting down to eat, because he's not used to eating alone. Regardless, he does his best to look after the house, even if he locks his parents bedroom door and doesn't open it again. When he cleans his brothers room, he finds pictures of them together missing that he knows he saw the last time he entered, before his brother went insane and killed their clan. When he walks through his clan compound, he finds it strange that they're at the edge of Konoha, instead of further in because he knows the Uchiha helped build the village (his memories tell him it was deliberate, but he he's never thought of it before) and suddenly the tense dinners and sneaking around that the adults were doing has a whole new meaning.

(He wants to curse and rage at the world when he figures out why his picture is missing from his brothers room, it meant that Itachi didn't go insane, he meant to kill all those people. He _meant_ to kill their parents.)

And then he goes back to the academy and the first thing to enter his mind is that they're even worse then Genos who was a cyborg (what is a cyborg?) and had no concept of self-preservation. They're kids, the other people in his class and that shouldn't surprise him because he has been in this class for almost a year, but it still does. They're all so small and _breakable_ and Sasuke is afraid that just poking them will make them pop. His scores plummet in taijutsu because he doesn't fight back, he just lets them wear themselves out and gently trips them and sits on them until they give up and apparently he needs more killing intent if he wants to be a successful ninja and avenge his clan.

Sasuke doesn't know why he needs to avenge his clan, clearly they did something _wrong_ if his brother had to kill them—because he knows his brother, he would only kill their family if it was the only choice he had—and so he just tunes the teachers out. The other kids in his class ignores him just as much as they stare at him and it's both annoying and frustrating in equal terms because he doesn't know why. Sasuke's scores on the written exams goes down just as much as the physical ones, because he doesn't care for it and only reads about the things that interest him. For example, the art of being able to seal things away in scrolls means not having to go home every time he tears his clothes and it's really a lot simpler then the teacher makes it out to be (Saitama kind of wants to hit them for not knowing what they're teaching but then remembers that he didn't really know what he tried to teach Genos either and so doesn't do anything) and he gets the hang of it fairly fast.

Sometimes, when Sasuke is sitting at home and just resting, he forgets where he is. It's not a conscious thing and he doesn't like it, but he does, because he is alone and has no-one to remind him of where he is and it just makes him determined to find his brother and get answers as to what happened. After all, he's pretty sure it's the result of his brother using the Sharingan on him that caused it, therefore Itachi should take some responsibly and talk to him.

Nonetheless, he can't tell people that because his teacher looked at him funny when he tried to explain it to her and he can't be bothered to put in more effort. If someone asks who he is, he might say Saitama depending on the day, but no-one ever does.

The first time he runs into another kid from his class outside of it is on a Wednesday that is unfairly sunny for his sour mood. Saitama (Sasuke) had spent the morning trying to work on his punch on the Uchiha's private training grounds, just to see if they were still effective and to his disbelief, they were. He was starting to think that his strength had less to do with his physical body's abilities, and more to do with just him. He'd thought that as he was in another world (at the start he hadn't been sure, but now Sasuke was certain his memories of this other life was from another world) but apparently that wasn't the case.

His punch was still as deadly as it had always been and Sasuke had almost had a mental breakdown right then and there if it weren't for the fact that the world he lived in now had chakra and shinobi and maybe, just maybe, there was someone out there he could go all out against. This thought is the only thing currently keeping him from breaking down into tears at the unfairness of it all.

Sasuke has only spoken to Nara Shikamaru twice, once to ask for a pencil and once to make him move over so he doesn't have to sit next to the crazy females in class, but he recognizes him on sight when they enter the same street. Like the other children, Shikamaru is tiny and all too fragile for Sasuke to ever try to hit, but he has noticed that Shikamaru doesn't really try either, though he doesn't know why. This is the only thing keeping him from turning tail and bluntly running away.

Unfortunately, to get to the shop he needs that is currently having a sale of 50% off on all food products, he needs to pass the boy on the other side of the road.

Sasuke doesn't stop walking, because it's not really that big of a deal, they were living in the same village so eventually he had to run into someone he knew, but he does look away and doesn't pay him any attention.

When they enter into the same shop, he doesn't think anything of it and instead goes out of his way to get as much food as he possibly can, a sale this good far to rare for him to not take advantage of. Shikamaru is still following him around when he leaves the shop with bags full of food and seals all his stuff into the scrolls he was carrying, making it much easier to drag home and, satisfied, he turns around to the boy that seems determined to stalk him and asks, "Are you going to follow me home?"

The boy mumbles something under his breath and Sasuke thinks that it might be troublesome, but doesn't dwell on it. "You're almost at the bottom of the class you know, and Iruka-sensei wants me to find out why."

He gives a short, "It's boring." and turns to walk away.

Unfortunately, Nara doesn't seem to get the hint as all he does is keep following him and although Sasuke thinks he should be annoyed or something, all he gets is a faint nostalgic feeling. He doesn't say anything when the boy follows him all the way to the Uchiha Compound, but stops when they get to the gates and turns back around, having the unsettling feeling that he didn't want the boy to enter.

"From what I've seen, you're not any better off." he says and gives him and annoyed look.

Shikamaru answers, "It's boring." and doesn't say anything else.

Sasuke blinks at having his own words thrown back at him, and gives the boy a considering glance. It's the first time he's having an actual conversation with someone his own age (but it's _not_ his age) since the massacre and he finds that he doesn't know what to say. Being social is exhausting in a way training never is and it saps all of his energy in a way nothing else ever does and this is a different world with different social rules then he's used to. He finds himself missing Genos (he misses him every day) because he would know what to do. He misses Itachi and the pain of losing both is nearly enough to make him snap at the kid, but he has better self-control than that. He has to, or he would've hurt someone he cares for a long time ago.

But still, the world is far too confusing and _new_ and his patience to deal with questions has never been the best, even as Sasuke, so he takes a deep breath and again says, "School is boring. And I don't care for my grades. Grades don't matter in the real world."

Shikamaru gives him a considering look, hums and turns to walk away. Sasuke breathes easier knowing that he's gone and he enters the Uchiha Compound to find it exactly like he left it. Cold and empty.

The memories are confusing, but he thinks that he used to care about school. He used to care about impressing his parents and catching up to his brother at the same time as he thought that no-one ever could, because his brother was obviously the best. But that was before he remembered things that didn't exist, like planes and aliens and heroes and villains and people that _couldn't_ exist. That was before he found that the world that was once in black and white was suddenly a rainbow of colors that switched places all the time.

This world doesn't have heroes and villains, but it has villages and Saitama knows (he doesn't) that this world doesn't have good and bad, only opinions. Even in his world, there were times when the villains weren't villains at all and all they wanted was recognition for skills people refused to see. All things are relative, he knows, and he doesn't think this world is any different.

Sasuke drops the groceries on the table and starts clearing it away. His fingers twitch and he wants to call for Genos to help him, the expectation of seeing him when he turns around still there (he doesn't think he will ever lose it) and he scowls at the air when for a moment he sees a phantom image of Genos standing there. It's all in his head he knows, but that doesn't make it hurt any less.

Nothing ever does.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Time passes. There's a boy in his class that wears an orange jumpsuit every day and the adults all hate. Sasuke doesn't care for it, the boy is way too happy to be normal, but otherwise he doesn't seem all that special. His grades are somehow even worse than Sasuke's, but that and his pranks are about all that makes him stand out.

School is boring.

Saitama (Sasuke) thought there would be more learning how to kill people—not that he needs to learn anything about _that_ —but most of the classes are pure theory. There are special classes only the girls are allowed to take, which is just stupid, it's not like Sasuke couldn't do better than them at it if he got the opportunity to try. The people in this world doesn't seem to care about gender when it comes to ability, but they still divide things absurdly. To be honest, it's kind of confusing.

He doesn't understand the values of the people in this world. Somehow, the village is supposed to be more important than family, and maybe it's because he's an Uchiha that spent his entire childhood (because he's not a child any longer) around people like him, that understood him, that trained him and loved him, that he doesn't get it, but there's still something that just strikes him as _wrong_ about that. A village shouldn't be more important than family, than Clan.

But somehow, to his teachers and even some of his classmates, it is.

It doesn't make any sense.

One of his classmates is a Hyuuga, an incredibly shy girl that could probably kill anyone in the class (barring him, of course) if she ever felt like it and obviously has a crush on the orange wearing boy. Every time Sasuke sees her, she's fidgeting with her fingers and stuttering. It's a shame too, because Sasuke has the feeling she could be very powerful if she got over her crushing shyness. Not that Sasuke is about to go out of his way to help her, she doesn't have that much potential, but enough that it bothers him when she doesn't live up to it.

Still, Sasuke knows enough of the Hyuuga to know that they place just as much importance on family as the Uchiha clan did, and that's enough.

(Somehow, someway, there's a hole in his heart and he needs to fill it with _something_ , or he'll go insane. He wants his brother to help him, but until he graduates and can track him down, that won't happen.)

(Saitama is just so _tired_. He's in another world full of ninjas and assassins and wars, and he's still strong enough that he could destroy the world if he put even the slightest bit of effort into it. It's exhausting.)

Life keeps on moving and Sasuke puts about zero effort into training, or doing anything at all really. He goes on a run occasionally, when his mind refuses to quiet down and he just wants to stop thinking, but that's about it. He'll crack open a book about shinobi arts if he is really bored, which happens maybe once or twice a month, but most of the time watching TV and reading manga is enough.

Before he knows it, years has passed by.

Sasuke is twelve years old but feels like he's fifty with all the memories in his head. His grades are so bad that he thinks the only reason he managed to graduate is because he's an Uchiha, the last one in the village. He's gotten to the point where he can separate the memories of him and Saitama enough that he stops talking about things that haven't happened in this world. It's not that cares about others' opinions, if they think him mad than that's their problem, but it's annoying to always confuse stuff.

The world makes a little more sense, but it's still strange and inconsistent.

It's the day they will be assigned a genin team and Sasuke isn't looking forwards to it. Aside from Shikamaru and the quiet Aburame kid with all his bugs, there are no people in his class that he actually likes. They're all loud, ignorant and inconsiderate brats and just being around them annoys him, which is part of the reason why he skips about half of his classes. His time is much better spent lazing around his home and resting.

Regardless, he shows up at the classroom just on time, because it's just more annoying when teachers screech at you about punctuality, and settles into a seat at the back of the room. He watches as the orange kid—Maki something—runs into the room like his ass is on fire and proudly proclaims that he passed some other kind of test and graduated. Sasuke thinks the kid has tried before and probably failed this time as well, but it's none of his business, and frankly, he couldn't care less. This ninja thing already sounds way too annoying, but it's also the only way he knows of to find someone stronger than him and Itachi, so he'll deal with it. That doesn't mean that he has to pay attention to other people.

Their teacher, the one whose name is dolphin, starts dividing them into groups after what was probably an inspiring speech, if the other kids' reactions is anything to go by, but Sasuke is fully willing to admit that he was dosing off on his desk and didn't hear it.

Finally, his name is called and he's paired together with the Maki kid and some girl named Haru-something. She has pink hair, but that's probably all he's ever going to remember about her. Still, her reaction when she heard his name was way too loud and jubilant. He wonders if she has any mental problems.

He should stay away from her.

People trickle out three by three, following behind adults that are their new jounin sensei's. Eventually, it's just Sasuke and his team left. Considering the fact that he is prepared for this, it doesn't bother him, but the others appear to be suffering from acute boredom. Sasuke ignores them blatantly as he unseals a scroll full of mangas and start reading. He's read them before, but they're good enough that it doesn't bother him.

Soon, he's entrapped in the story about the magical girl Mirai and her adventures with a magical talking cat.

It's better than it sounds.

He's so caught up in his reading that he doesn't notice it when their new sensei enters until his view is clouded by white smoke. If Saitama was younger, he'd laugh, but he's above such childish things. He's an _adult_.

(Honestly, the prank was kind of lackluster, especially compared to what he's seen Maki do before, but he supposes that sometimes you just can't expect people to deliver. It's still disappointing, though.)

(Not that Sasuke is a very big fan of pranks, but he has to admit that they're good for fighting boredom. And other things.)

Their new grey-haired sensei tells them, "I hate you already." and Sasuke contemplates the idea of just leaving and going home. It doesn't seem like they're going to actually get anything done today, but he's curious. Just a little. He wants to know why a teacher that was this late was assigned to his team. It's not arrogance when he says that he's special. He knows fully well that he utterly failed last year's test for advancing to another class—that's what happens when you forget to turn up—but he still advanced.

Obviously, someone doesn't want him to fail.

Which is just as well, because he doesn't really care if he passes or not and it may well be the only reason he managed to graduate in the first place. This village is really strange.

They follow their new sensei to the rooftop of the school.

Sasuke arrives last, despite Maki's taunts to get him to compete with him and Maki is now pouting on the roof. It's kind of hilarious, the way Maki—blue-eyed and blond—stares at him like he has betrayed him somehow. Just because he wouldn't give in to a childish competition. Honestly, it's like they don't get that he's not a child.

(He's told people before, that he's an adult and doesn't need their help, but they always just give him pitying looks and patronizes him. One lady in the street that insisted on carrying his bags after a sale even gave him a pat on the head and a piece of candy. Not that Sasuke is going to object to free food, but it's the principle of the thing. He's an adult, really.)

Their sensei tells them to introduce themselves, which Sasuke would usually say is unnecessary but he honestly can't remember their names, so he doesn't bother to.

Maki goes first. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo! My dream is to be the Hokage and my favorite hobby is to taste different kinds of ramen. I like pranks!"

Sasuke has already forgotten his name. He shall forever be doomed to be Maki.

The pink-haired, starry-eyed girl with a large forehead goes next. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like… my dream is… I'm good at studying."

She keeps interrupting herself and blushing all the while looking at him, which makes no sense at all, and Sasuke is honestly just kind of confused. What did she say her name was again? Haru or something, right?

And then it's his turn. He puts his hands under his chin in a brooding pose like he just saw in his manga (because he's curious) and starts in a low voice. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have a dream, more of an ambition, to kill someone. My hobby is reading manga and sleeping."

His sensei looks at him funny with his one visible eye. Sasuke smirks.

Their sensei coughs lightly and says, "I'm Hatake Kakashi. My dreams and hobbies are none of your business and you're too young to know what I like to do on my free time. We will meet at training ground three tomorrow at seven in the morning for your genin test. If you fail it, you will have to go back to the academy. Make sure not to eat breakfast. That's all!"

And with that, he's gone.

Sasuke blinks and the silence is promptly interrupted by his new (or not) teammates. "That jerk!"

They appear to be complaining.

While they are arguing about one thing or another, Sasuke leaves the school and makes his way home.

It's not that Sasuke isn't excited about finally graduating or that he doesn't like his new sensei. It's just that even after all this time, he doesn't know how to talk to kids his own age—because it's not—and staying behind with a couple of kids fighting just seems like a recipe for disaster. He'll probably have to learn their names eventually, but that's only if they don't die. He'll give them a few years before he writes their names down on a note to remember them.

Until then, he won't even put effort into it.

(No really, he can't remember their names. He knows who Maki is, because Maki is loud and proclaims his name pretty much every day to the entire class, so he's sure that his name is Maki, but the girl is more difficult. It's probably Haru, or Hana, or Hisoka. Something like that. Maybe Hotaru. He'll try them all and see how she reacts.

Their sensei is more difficult, because this is the first time he's met him, but he thinks it's something sort of like Takashi or Hayato. Perhaps Katsumi. He'll just have to wait and see.)

(The only reason Saitama remembers Genos' name is because Genos used to do the laundry and cooking and it's just _rude_ not to remember the name of someone doing your housework. Sonic is because the ninja had a lovely smile when he fought, but that's shallow, so he probably shouldn't tell anyone that. It'll give them _ideas_.)

His home in the Uchiha compound isn't exactly a mess, because, despite contrary thought, Sasuke _does_ know how to clean and pick up after himself. It's just that most of the time he doesn't bother to. But his spontaneous cleaning frenzies that happens about four times a year is enough to make the house look decent.

Most available surfaces are covered by manga and books and scrolls, both those that he's bought and once he found in the houses that now stand empty. After the Uchiha's death, nobody bothered to clean them out, so he's found a ton of things to read in them. He's not a fan of studying, but reading about ninja arts _isn't_ studying. It's basically fiction to him, and he doesn't think that's going to change any time soon. And thanks to his inheritance as the last Uchiha, he can buy anything he likes and still have a fortune left over.

He still buys things in bulk on sale, a habit he just can't seem to break. He knows that as Uchiha Sasuke, he has more money than he could possibly spend, but as Saitama, he never has enough.

Tomorrow, he'll take the test and unless it's to kill someone, he can already anticipate him failing. It's sort of amusing, the reactions everyone always has when they realize that he's _not_ the genius obsessed with revenge they for some reason expects. He's not sure what his new sensei is expecting, but it's probably not what he's going to get.

Sasuke can be petty when he wants to be and though he doesn't care, he _does_ want to find his brother, so maybe he'll put in a tiny bit of effort, but he's not going to try. They'll fail and then they'll get another test because he's an Uchiha that can awaken the legendary Sharingan (the same thing that let him remember another life, so he can sort of see why everyone wants it) and that will be that.

He throws himself down on his couch and grips another book on fuuinjutsu. It's more entertaining than he'd thought it'd be. He wonders if he should try them out someday. But its more fictional than its facts, so he doesn't think so. It's amusing though and he has fun criticizing the author. It's especially fun to compare the different texts to each other and note the inconsistencies.

He probably knows enough about the subject by now to write a book on it of his own, but that would be too much effort. He prefers ridiculing others poor examples.

Sasuke emerges himself in the book and loses himself to its pages. A lot of the shows on the TV and the movies are just terrible quality in this world, so he has to make due with books unless he's really _really_ bored, which happens less then you'd expect.

Time has passed and he's about to be an actual ninja.

(Sasuke has adapted, he has grown used to his new (and old) life. He knows roughly how this world works now. But that doesn't mean he likes it. Once he has found his brother, he'll find a nice quiet village without any ninja to settle down in and live out his days in calm. Saitama was a hero once, but Sasuke doesn't think he can be.)

He falls asleep reading. He'll probably be late to the test the next day.

He can't bring himself to care.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Sasuke arrives at training ground three at ten thirty in the morning. He overslept and then spent too long in the bath, so by the time he arrives, he's just waking up. It's possible he fell asleep in the bath as well, but that doesn't matter, so he's not going to mention it. He figures that if he drowns in the bath because he fell asleep, it'll only be fair. It's a lame way to go, but there isn't really such a thing as a cool way to die, take it from him. He's not even sure how he died as Saitama. It's like he just went to sleep and woke up woke up in another life.

Maki and the pink one is already there when he reaches the grounds and Sasuke is shocked to see that they're just lying on the ground, sleeping. He'd thought that he would be yelled at and lectured for his lack of keeping track of time, but it appears that he needn't have worried. Still, they look tired so instead of waking them as he probably should Sasuke just sits down a few paces away from them and cracks open a manga he bought with him in a sealing scroll. It's the continuing to Mirai's adventures and Sasuke's attention is monopolized by it as he reads how Mirai's mother turns out to be the alien queen that wants to take over the world.

Her inner conflict of whether she should help her mother, or her fellow humans is both amusing and serious. It's the perfect mix and Saitama is in awe of the mangaka. Once he's finished with this series, he's going to buy their other works.

Sasuke doesn't know how much time it takes until their sensei arrives as well, he's far too focused on his reading, but he knows that the pink one suddenly screeches loudly about his lateness. Sasuke puts the book back in the scroll with a sigh, regretting the fact that he didn't manage to finish it. When he looks up, the other members of his team are staring at him with stunned looks. Sasuke frowns and asks, "What?"

Maki breathes in deeply in that way he always does when he's about to yell. "Teme! When did you get here?!"

Sasuke tilts his head to the side and lets his gaze wander. "I've been here from the start."

"Liar!" Maki yells loudly and continues with, "You weren't here when I fell asleep!"

Thankfully, Katsuki-sensei interrupts the brewing argument and rescues Sasuke from answering those wild and true accusations. "Maa, maa, let's just all calm down."

Maki humphs and mumbles, "He started it."

Kohaku-sensei's eyes twitches and he says, "Well, that's not important. Now, your mission is to take these two bells from me by the time the clock rings. The one who doesn't get a bell will be sent back to the academy. Come at me with the intent to kill."

Sasuke stares at his new sensei for a tense moment, then he sighs and climbs to his feet. While Maki demonstrates his strategic mind and gets caught by their sensei and made into an example of poor control, Sasuke starts to wander into the forest that is smack in the middle of the training grounds. He knows what his mission is now, and he has absolutely no intention of completing it.

It took a while, but he's pretty sure he's remembered who his sensei is. He's his cousin Obito's old teammate which means he has a Sharingan which means that he's probably important to the village. Sasuke can imagine the fallout if he were to kill him. There'd be yelling and accusations and wild allegations. In short, it's not worth it.

Besides, according to the clock there's just an hour left until it rings. He'll find a nice tree to climb and continue his reading.

Soon after Sasuke sits down on a comfortable branch of a high tree with a lot of leaves to keep him from being seen, screams start appearing in the area. It's not a stretch to realize they're coming from his team. Meanwhile, Sasuke is reading about Mirai's heartfelt apology to her mother for siding with the humans. The sadness of the moment has him in tears and he blows his nose with a tissue. It's just so _sad_. After everything Mirai has done, all that she has accomplished, instead of being proud of her, her mother wants to kill her for siding with her morals.

Just as Saitama is finished with the chapter, the tree falls over.

Sasuke flails wildly for a moment in panic, but then he flips in the air and lands on the ground silently, without even a cloud of dust. He turns the manga over in his hands frantically, full of relief that it appears whole. That almost gave him a heart attack and Sasuke (Saitama) is fully intending to stab the person who fell the tree when he looks up and catches sight of the amused eyes of his sensei.

"Oops."

His sensei smiles at him with his eyes and says, "It's just you left now Sasuke. What are you going to do?"

Sasuke gulps and answers, "Run."

He's only taken two steps when the back of his shirt is snagged by his sensei and he dangles in the air for a second before Sasuke kicks back and manages to dislodge the hand holding him. He falls back to the ground with a _thud_.

His manga hits a rock on the ground and is torn in half.

Just as Sasuke (Saitama) is about to punch something in anger and cause an earthquake, the clock rings loudly, demanding his attention and successfully distracting him. Before he can react (he's still in shock at the cruel fate of both Mirai and her manga) he's gathered in the arms of his sensei and carried over to the posts in the middle of the training grounds. His sensei ties him to one of them and then goes off to presumably gather the other two.

After all of them has been tied to the posts, their sensei stands in front of them, a mockery of a disappointed look in his eyes. Sasuke has a feeling he's happy they failed. Their sensei takes a breath and states, "Well, that was horrible."

Immediately, Maki yells something about how he was just about to succeed. Kei-sensei ignores him blatantly and continues with, "You all failed. None of you recognized what the test truly was. Teamwork. Instead of trying to work together, Naruto attacked alone while the other two hid. And Sakura hid badly and fell prey to a low-level genjutsu."

Kou-sensei's eyes travel to Sasuke and he says, "And you Sasuke. You spent the entire test reading. You didn't even try."

"All of you have failed. I'm leaving you here and hope you learn something. Don't let Naruto eat anything, it's his punishment."

With that, their sensei—who's not their sensei as they failed—disappears in a show of leaves. Sasuke waits a few more moments before he steps away from the post and the ties just fall to pieces. He picks up the bento that lay on the ground and opens it. Sasuke packed food of his own, but it's not like he's gonna say no to a free meal, even if it doesn't look as appealing as his own.

After a few bites, he notices that the pink one looks to be in pain and Maki appears to be trying to glare him to death. Such a shame it isn't possible.

That would be an interesting thing though.

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke frowns and asks, "What?"

The pink one's eyes slide away and she grimaces at herself while Maki continues to stare. Sasuke follows his line of sight to his bento and, thinking about it, he grabs some of the rice and shoves it in Maki's mouth. The kid should be grateful Sasuke isn't feeling in a bad mood.

Maki swallows it and immediately after, the one start shuffling him food as well while Sasuke continues to eat his. Just as he's finished with it, the show of leaves appears again and out comes their sensei. His eye looks furious.

"You passed!"

The man does not look happy about it.

While Maki and the pink one celebrates loudly, Sasuke hums and turns the idea over in his head. He passed. He's a ninja now. He can finally go find his brother and demand answers. It's not a sure thing and it doesn't necessarily make a difference, but it's a start. It'll take time of course, Sasuke isn't under some delusion that he'll find his brother just because he wants to, but he's finally getting somewhere. Things are finally beginning to move forward.

(The thing is, Sasuke doesn't want to be a ninja. It's just the fastest and easiest way to get somewhere in his search. The other ways involve running away from an entire village, because he's an Uchiha, the last one, and they're never going to let him go, if for no other reason than that he has the ability to awaken the Sharingan. It's a shitty situation, and he's doing the best he can. Sometimes, he's just so tired that he stops for a moment, though, and he can't make himself move.)

(He's read about the Sharingan, he found old texts in a basement hidden from sight. It's all based on trauma, in order for the Sharingan to awaken, you need to live though your worst nightmares and then not go insane from it. Most people—even born Uchiha—don't succeed and end up either killing themselves or being killed for being a very real danger to everyone around them. Konoha must either be desperate or not aware of it for them to press the issue with him, who literally saw his parents murder by his beloved older brother.)

(It doesn't make any sense.)

The pink one drags him out of his thoughts when she touches his arm to get his attention. She clears her voice and says, in a ridiculously high one, "Now that we're teammates, we should get to know each other. Will you come with me to get something to eat?"

"No." Sasuke says. "I have other things I'd rather be doing, Haruka."

The girl frowns and says, sounding a little confused, "That's not my name."

Sasuke hums and nods, "Then, Hikari, I'll be going now."

"Wait, that's not it either. You don't know my name?" for some reason, she sounds heartbroken when she asks him.

"I don't remember the names of useless people."

"Hey, teme!" Maki interrupts from where he's still tied to the post. "You can't say things like that to Sakura! Apologize! And untie me!"

Sasuke answers, "As a shinobi of Konoha, you're an embarrassment if you can't get out of that. And it's not my fault if Seiko is doomed to die young because she doesn't take being a ninja seriously. I'm not going to remember the name of someone who's just going to end up dead. It's a waste of time."

"I'll kill you, teme! Bastard!" Maki yells loudly and Sasuke goes to pick up his tattered manga. Several pages are ripped out and it's been muddied. Sasuke (Saitama) frowns and tries to dust it off, but it makes no difference. It's still ruined.

When he turns back around, the pink one is staring at him with a forlorn expression on her face. She swallows deeply and asks, in a thin and broken voice, "Do you really think I'm useless?"

Sasuke throws her a short glance over his shoulder as he starts to leave the area. "I could kill you in under a second."

He leaves her to the sound of her crying, not especially concerned with her. He's not sure what that was all about, but he wasn't lying. He's not going to remember the name of someone he doesn't care for and he's not about to care for someone weak again. He can't feel that sense of loss again. He thinks that if he does, he'll end up destroying the world in his rage and despair. If she truly wants him to care about her at all, she needs to fix her thinking and actually put in some effort.

He's probably being a hypocrite, but who's going to call him out on it?

Nobody he cares for is here.

The bookstore where he bought his manga is a little out of the way of most stores, so it's easy to miss. It's right next to a weapons shop, the place where Sasuke buys all of his kunai. He's never actually figured out how to use shuriken, he's too paranoid that he's going to end up losing his fingers to it, but otherwise he okay in most weapons. It's just muscle memory and occasional practice. Nothing that requires deep thought or attention. He's been training to be a ninja sense he learned how to walk and maybe that doesn't mean much to others, but it means that even before he got all these strange memories in his head, he knew all the basics, even a few techniques that aren't taught at the academy.

The bookstore is empty when he enters, the owner gone who knows where, and Sasuke walks between the isles until he reaches the shelves with the manga. He picks up a replacement for the book that just got destroyed as well as some other work that's new. Once he has them picked out, he walks over to the empty counter and drops a wad of cash onto it. It's more than enough.

He leaves the store without speaking to anybody.

He figures that, as he's a ninja now, he should probably pick up a few more kunai's now that he's there as he has a tendency to lose them pretty much everywhere. Sasuke is pretty sure that there are still kunai at the roof of the academy from when he accidently threw them up there.

The weapons shop is a nice small place and Sasuke has no idea of the quality of the work. It's not like it matters with his strength and speed. All he knows is that the prices are good, and they don't make a fuss over him being an Uchiha there. It's pleasant.

He goes straight to the counter where the daughter of the blacksmith is standing behind. As soon as she sees him, she smiles and waves at him. When he reaches it, she has already pulled out a packet of kunai from under the counter. Apparently, he's predictable.

"So, you're a ninja now, Sasuke-kun?"

He nods in response.

She smiles at him again. "You should come train with me and my team sometime. They would love to meet you."

"Thanks," he starts, "but I don't really feel like hanging around people voluntarily wearing green spandex."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

D-rank missions are an utter delight. They're easy and simple, requiring no use of their ninja skills at all. Sasuke spends most of the time halfheartedly pulling a weed or two every half hour and the rest reading his various manga and scrolls. He can tell that both Maki and his sensei's patience is starting to run out, Maki's yells are becoming increasingly louder and sensei keeps staring at him when he thinks Sasuke doesn't notice it. Admittedly, it does take him time to notice it, but once he does, he can't stop.

It's not exactly a bother, because he spent years being stared at intently by Genos, but it's still kind of disconcerting. Together with the perverted books the man reads all the time, he's starting to wonder if he has some pedophilic leanings.

If that's the case, Sasuke is going to just kind of casually murder him when they actually go on a proper mission and blame it on enemies.

It'll be _such a shame_.

The pink one has started following him around a lot. She gives him looks each time she sees him and keeps on making a face like she's fighting with herself, not that he cares. It's mostly amusing. Still, to be fair, he has noticed that she seems to be eating more, which is just as well, because Saitama has never understood the female urge to diet and starve themselves. It seems like an awfully counterproductive thing to do.

While Maki loudly proclaims that they don't need to do D-ranks, Sasuke hides his face accidently behind a book and misses what's being said. It's not an unusual thing, because nobody ever seems to tell him anything actually important, but he has a feeling he missed something major when they finally leave the mission office.

Maki keeps beaming and jumping up and down, the pink one looks like she's swallowed a bug and their sensei is staring at him again. Those murder plans are becoming more and more realistic.

He follows along as they wander onto the main street of Konoha, the one that leads to the gate. Once they reach it, sensei puts a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and says, "Meet up at the gate in half an hour with provisions to last weeks."

Then they leave, the pink one giving him a lost look as she's pulled away.

Sasuke just kind of stares at the spot they disappeared from. What exactly did he miss?

But as it seems like they're finally going on a mission outside the village, Sasuke decides it doesn't really matter and makes his way to the Uchiha Compound. It's exactly as he left it, looking like the perfect place for ghosts to haunt. Because he doesn't really care, the grass and plants have started dying in some places and moss have started to take over others. He's looking forwards to decorating it to his heart's content come Halloween again. The last time he made a lot of people cry and scream and the Hokage personally visited to give him a stern talking to, but frankly, if they can't even handle his small pranks, how are they going to stay alive as shinobi. Honestly.

He packs his things into sealing scrolls quickly and gathers a whole armful of books. He needs to be prepared with the essentials. Who knows how long they're going to be gone?

By the time he reaches the gate in and out of Konoha, which is manned by a pair chunin's at all times, Sasuke has already stopped wondering about the new mission. If it's important, they'll tell him and if it's not then they'll don't. It's not hard to figure out that the reason Maki looks so excited is probably just because it takes place outside the village. He's not exactly a subtle person.

Sasuke is the first one at the gate, which doesn't point a good picture for his team, because he also has no idea what the mission is actually about. The others should have beaten him there. It's possible that Sasuke is once again reading manga, but really, by this point it should be expected.

The thing is, while Sasuke is rarely, if ever, actually effected by what happens around him, when it comes to manga and books, it's about as close as he can get to actual feelings. To emotions. He's not excited or nervous about a mission outside of Konoha, but when he reads of Mirai's tragic fate, he finds himself almost crying.

It's about as close as he can get to anything at all.

A couple of minutes after he sat himself down on the ground to concentrate on his reading, an old drunk man comes bumbling along out of Konoha. Even as he walks, he keeps drinking and the smell of alcohol is annoying enough for Sasuke to disappear into the trees of the forest just outside the gate to get away from it. Soon after, the rest of his team follows suit. Sasuke glances up once in a while to watch them stare around suspiciously and give the drunk man the cold shoulder. It's abundantly clear that Maki dislikes him.

After a few more minutes where he finishes the last chapter of the manga and seals it back into the scroll, he jumps down from the tree he was situated in and emerged from the tree line. His sensei gives him a hard look that doesn't affect him at all and says, "Well now that we're all here, it's about time to get going, wouldn't you say?"

They start walking.

Sasuke finds that the drunk is even more annoying when he's speaking, constantly going on about how great he is and how they need to sacrifice themselves in order to protect him. Which each word out of his useless mouth, Saitama is one step closer to just punching him and being done with it. They're off to a horrible start.

When the gates to Konoha can no longer be seen and they're still going at a snail pace to accommodate the civilian in their midst, the pink one breaks the silence that had fallen after Maki had loudly and repeatedly insulted the presumed client.

"So, what's Wave like?"

It's a giant mistake.

It sets the client off on talking about his country like it's the best damn thing since people discovered that horses could actually be ridden. The man babbles off about the bridge he's building and how awesome his family is and how pretty and beautiful and wonderful and amazing his daughter is. He goes on about the fishing and the crops and the trade and then he goes on about his surly but still adorable grandchild and Sasuke is ready to just kill him already. The guy is utterly useless.

He's making him feel homicidal.

Ever since his family and clan was killed in a single night, Sasuke has no patience for baseless bragging. Showing off all your secrets and laying all the cards on the table is stupid, but people still insist on doing it because they want everyone around to know how powerful and smart they are. Which just shows that they're absolute morons.

Saitama has never had any patience for idiocy.

There's a puddle in the middle of an otherwise entirely dry road.

Sasuke kind of wants to face palm, but that would mean letting go of the manga he's reading, so he doesn't. What he does do is say, in an entirely monotone voice, "There's a puddle in the road, sensei. Let's blow it up."

Immediately, Maki's attention is caught at the thought of explosions. His face brightens. "Yeah, sensei! Let's blow shit up!"

He then goes and jumps in the puddle.

Grunts of pain emerge from the puddle at once. Sasuke can't quite manage to keep his amusement under wraps and lets out a small laugh disguised as a cough. Maki flails and gets a kunai in his leg for his trouble while the pink one dramatically gasps, and their sensei moves to protect the client.

Maki kicks the puddle and there's the sound of a pain filled scream. Suddenly, the image of the puddle is gone and in its place is two men, one of them holding onto his privates desperately while making a low-pitched sound.

The other one swings his arms and chains follows.

Sasuke seals away his manga, he learned his lesson on reading while fighting when he tried to run away from sensei, thank you very much. He's not the stupid kind of idiot that repeats mistakes. He jumps out of the way and a minor crater is formed in the road from the force of it.

He hopes nobody is going to make a big deal of it, like Genos and everyone else constantly did. It's kind of irritating, to be watched that closely all the time.

And they kept asking how, like they somehow expected him to know.

The man that Maki attacked in his weak point manages to recover surprisingly fast and joins the battle as well. While the pink one is frozen and doesn't move and their sensei is killed by chains, Maki hits them dead and manages to take them out. Meanwhile, Sasuke doesn't do a thing. They didn't attack him while he wasn't in their way, so he isn't the target, as such, there's no reason to get involved. He's not a hero and in this world, he doesn't thing there can ever be such a thing.

Just monsters wearing the skin of men.

The men are defeated by Maki.

Once they've been tied up, Sasuke gets close to them out of curiosity and stares at their faces. They don't seem that dangerous, but he supposes that credits due where it's due, so he says, "Good work, Maki." and leaves it at that.

For some reason, this makes Maki stare at him, utterly stunned and with stars in his eyes. It reminds him of Genos and makes him give him a second look, which makes him notice that the wounds he received from fighting are already healed. It's never occurred to him before, that the people of this world might have advanced healing capabilities. Of course, is as he's in the middle of having a revelation that their sensei pops out of the woodwork, whole and well.

For some reason, the pink one practically cries at seeing him and Maki starts yelling again, an action he seems absurdly fond of.

Their sensei smiles at them and asks, "So, what did you learn?"

Maki starts babbling about his fight and flails his arms to show his movements while the pink one seems to just sink to the ground. Once Maki's story is finished, their sensei turns to Sasuke and stars at him again.

"You didn't fight at all Sasuke, I'm disappointed in you. Even when you thought I was dead, you didn't help your team. Explain yourself."

Sasuke blinks and answers, "Maki didn't need my help."

Sensei glares at him while Maki has stars in his eyes again. "And my death?"

"Why would your death make me want to fight? I don't care about you." Sasuke deadpans.

Their sensei's eye twitches violently. "People that abandons their comrades are worse than scum. Remember that. The next time a fight happens, you'll make an effort, do you understand?"

Sasuke nods. "Sure, Kai-sensei. I won't let you down."

"And learn our freaking names."

With that, their sensei leaves and drags their prisoners away.

The pink one walks over to a fallen log and sits down on it heavily while their client moves off to the side and proceeds to get even more drunk. Maki follows Sasuke's lead and flops down on the ground and somehow, they're sitting in a circle. For a while, they just stare at each other. Sasuke's mind is preoccupied with the thought of instant healing and regeneration and what it means to his punch. Maybe he won't ever be able to find someone able to survive it, but maybe they'll get back from the dead and heal from it. It's a thought worth investigating, and he has the perfect experiment subject right next to him.

He gives Maki a side-glance.

Yes, he's the perfect test subject.

Somehow, he feels like laughing manically in that way he sometimes saw villains do in his old world.

 _Mwhuhahah…_

Or something like that.

On the other hand, it seems like it would be a pain on the throat and maybe even lead to losing his voice.

Eventually, the pink one breaks the silence that has fallen over the clearing.

"You… you were really brave, Naruto. How could you just fight like that? Weren't you scared?"

Maki swivels his head around from where he had been staring at thin air and answers, "Of course I was scared, Sakura-chan! But it was a mission and it had to be done."

Before Sasuke can stop himself, he's already opened his mouth and said, "Bravery isn't the absence of fear, but rather the strength to go on despite it."

Maki's mouth drops, and he says, "Yeah, like that, Sakura-chan! You just need to power through it!"

Shion bites her lip and says, "But what if I'm not cut out for this? For being a shinobi? Maybe I'm meant to be a seamstress or a model."

"You could totally be a model if you wanted to be, Sakura-chan!" Maki cheers. "But a shinobi is what you chose, right? You just need to remember why."

"Maybe…" Satsuki says, and the conversation dies off.

Sasuke still doesn't know what the actual mission is, but considering they were attacked and the target was clearly the client, he thinks it's something like protecting him. It seems the most obvious. It's kind of an oversight, that no-one has realized that he wasn't listening and hasn't bothered to tell him anything. But it's also not like it matters, so he won't say anything. It's a little bit like a treasure hunt that way.

It could be more amusing this way, he supposes.

As the day give way to night and their sensei return with blood on his sleeve, Sasuke takes out another manga to distract himself form the thoughts running through his mind.

They left behind Konoha. For the first time in his memory, Sasuke is out of the village he grew up in and on the way to getting some actual answers. He's found books about reincarnation, but they all say some truly ridiculous things. And it's not like Sasuke (Saitama) was born this way, no this is entirely the fault of his brother. Therefore, it only makes sense for his brother to have some answers. It's not like Sasuke has forgiven him for the death of his entire family, that isn't something you can just forget, no matter how unemotional you are, but he also isn't one to hold grudges. What's done is done and whining about it accomplishes exactly nothing.

It probably doesn't say anything good about him, the fact that, when it comes down to it, he thinks he would probably still choose his brother over Konoha, but that's not his fault. He doesn't have any emotional ties to anyone in the village, isn't even really sentimental of the house he grew up in, and nobody has ever really tried to get to know _him_. They might know who he is, but they have no idea _what_ he is.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Wave is small.

It's an island in the middle of murky waters covered by mist and the boat they take is small and smelly and it forces Sasuke to sit next to the client. The man that owns the boat is highly paranoid that they'll be discovered and spends the entire trip telling them to shut up.

Even when they're not making a sound.

In the morning, before they set off, their sensei terrified the client into spilling his guts. Apparently, he was a lying piece of shit and needed their help in order to be able to complete the bridge he was in charge off. If they didn't help him, he'd die. It was blatant blackmail, but Maki wanted to go on because he didn't believe in giving up, Sasuke didn't care either way and the pink one gave in to group pressure. Their sensei just followed along.

Sasuke spends the entire boat trip trying to lean as far away from the client as possible, because the smell if just horrible.

When they finally step off the boat, Sasuke almost smiles in relief, but that seems like too much effort, so he doesn't bother. Their client starts complaining again as soon as they're on firm ground and Sasuke isn't embarrassed to say that he doesn't hear a word he says. The drunk man is a pain.

They make their way through the foliage with Maki keeping a look-out, Kana-sensei reading his perverted books and the pink one keeping a vigilant eye on their client. Sasuke brings out another manga, the continuing of Mirai's adventures as she goes off to space and continues to read. It is much more interesting.

Maki panics and almost kills a white rabbit.

It's amusing, watching the way he fumbles with his words in an attempt to defend himself and explain that there really was an enemy there. If Sasuke wants to, he could mention the fact that he sensed someone there as well, but it doesn't seem like there's any need. From their positions, he guesses that they'll attack soon anyway. The question is if Sasuke should interfere or not?

He doesn't really want to.

And then sensei yells out, "Get down!"

Sasuke drops on instinct, not a moment too soon as a giant cleaver like sword splits the air in two and ends up in a tree. A half-naked man with his lower face covered in bandages appears on top of it.

Frantically, Saitama takes stock of his manga and breathes out in relief when he finds that it survived without a scratch. He'd instinctively broken its fall.

He jumps back to his feet later than his teammates, utterly uninterested in the ongoings around him. Their sensei doesn't even spare him a glance and he would be offended if he actually cared.

Opening his mouth (not that anyone can tell) their sensei states, "Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Village Hidden in the Mist. What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Oh, this and that." the man responds with an air of mystery. "Give me the old man and I'll let you go without harming a hair on your heads."

Having sealed away his manga to protect it, Sasuke snags the shirt of their client and says, "Sure."

The man stills. "What, are you actually serious? You're on a mission, right? I thought you tree huggers never gave up."

"Tell me where my brother is, and I'll give you this." Sasuke offers magnanimously.

Sasuke could almost hear his sensei rolling his eyes as he snags the drunk man back and puts him down away from Sasuke. "We don't bargain with our clients, Sasuke. And this is not what I meant when I told you to be involved in fights."

Pulling his forehead protector up from where it covers one of his eyes, their sensei continues, "Now, don't interfere. Momochi is an A-rank ninja. You'll just get in the way."

What a way to send mixed messages.

Sasuke settles down on the ground, unseals his manga and resumes reading.

As he disconnects with the world, the area around him is filled with smoke and curses, flying earth and flames and giant water monsters. Sasuke bends out of the way of anything flying his way, including but not limited to, both of his teammates. While the pink one and Maki surrounds the client to keep him safe, their sensei fights to save them all. It's a very noble and touching moment. Too bad Sasuke doesn't notice it at all.

Eventually, their sensei is trapped in a ball of water and at their enemy's mercy. Maki performs some impressive multitasking with the help of his clones and saves their sensei. Sasuke still doesn't notice a thing.

Their sensei makes a grand and showy comeback and the enemy is defeated.

Just as sensei is about to deliver the final move, senbon fly down from above and hits the still form of their enemy. Another shinobi with a mask then abruptly kidnaps the enemy before they can interfere.

Sasuke turns the last page of his manga.

"Ah." He says as he catches sight of his sensei passed out on the ground and Maki and the pink one covered in scratches. "What'd I miss?"

—

The client complains the entire time they carry their sensei to the man's house. Sasuke tunes him out as Maki argues back and creates a vicious cycle of loud complaining. When they finally reach the small house, Sasuke immediately drops his sensei on the ground, ignoring his teammates yelling at him and picking up the still form. He's not entirely sure how he ended up carrying the man in the first place. Something about pulling his weight.

Sasuke enters the house with the respect that is due when entering someone else's home. He pulls off his shoes at the entrance and unseals a pair of slippers to wear instead.

The others follow behind him and Sasuke leads the way tot eh kitchen, because the house is just that small. In the kitchen is a young woman that is of average beauty, though far more attractive than her father, and a young boy, younger than Sasuke and his team. The boy glares at them, says some foul words and runs away. The client's daughter frantically apologizes on his behalf.

It's like watching a soap opera right in front of you.

Sasuke seats himself at the table, finding himself hungry for some actual food, not the parody of cooked meat and preserved food they've been eating so far. It gets annoying after a while. The next time he leaves on a mission, he's bringing with him a whole pile of spices, so this doesn't happen again.

It's a damn travesty.

Soon, the food is served.

Maki eats as he was being starved and the pink one with grace and elegance, a stark contrast. Their sensei is left behind in another room to starve on his own as none of them are very interested in his wellbeing.

In the middle of the meal, the young boy enters the room and seemingly becomes utterly enraged for no particular reason. "What are you even doing here?!" he yells and continues with, "You're just going to die! There's no such thing as heroes! Nobody can win against Gatou!"

Sasuke calmly puts down his chopsticks and says, in a very gentle tone, "Of course there are no such as thing as heroes. This world is made up of liars, thieves and killers. A true hero is someone that risks their lives for something that doesn't matter to them, someone that goes against their beliefs to help others. It's a person that is truly selfless. All this world has is self-made monsters. You just need to find a monster that you can agree with."

Silence answers him and when he looks up it is to the surprised faces of his teammates. Sasuke scowl and finds himself embarrassed for some reason. More harshly, he says, "If you need a hero to save you, that just means you're weak. A monster may be something to be feared, but it doesn't _need_ anyone to help them."

The boy has a pensive look on his face as he asks, "And what are you?"

With a thoughtful hum, Saitama lets his Sharingan spin to life in his eyes and stares down at the boy with an almost savage grin. "I'm a monster, kid. The most powerful monster in the world."

The boy lowers his gaze and walks out of the room with a furrowed look. When Sasuke looks up again, Maki gasps and just barely manages to keep his voice down to a whisper as he yells out, "Woah! What's wrong with your eyes, teme?!"

Sasuke blinks and the vision the Sharingan grants its users fade. "Ah. It's my Bloodline Limit."

"Eh?" Maki tilts his head to the side, and asks, "What's a Bloodline Limit?"

The pink one elbows him with a glare and answers, "It's a specific ability that only someone of a certain linage has. The Uchiha family were famous for the Sharingan, the doujutsu that lets them copy all techniques they see."

"Ohhh." Maki looks incredibly impressed. "That's awesome! But I'm still stronger then you."

Sasuke smirks. "Didn't you hear me? I'm the most powerful monster in the world. But, I suppose, you are on your way to becoming a monster as well."

For some reason, this makes Maki look furious and he hisses out, "Are you calling me a demon?"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow in response. "We kill people for a living and brag about it. We're all demons. Just deal with it."

At that, the pink one reacts. "Uhm, Sasuke-kun, that's not true. Being a shinobi is an honorable occupation where we protect our people."

"Saiko, we kill, sabotage and torture people. _We are not good people._ Being a ninja is about as far from honorable as you can get. Deal with it." Sasuke dismisses her and goes back to his dinner. It actually tastes quite well.

The room is once again silent.

That night, they check on their sensei, redress his wounds and fall asleep in the same room.

The next few days passes the same way. Eventually, their sensei recovers enough from his chakra exhaustion to get up and walk around on crutches after delivering the blow that is the fact that the enemy they faced (who exactly?) isn't dead or defeated and that he'll be back.

Sasuke has no idea who they're talking about.

They start training again, and for once their sensei is actually teaching them something useful, the ability to walk on walls. Or in this case, trees. It's actually pretty awesome and Sasuke has fun defying gravity, not that he couldn't already do that. Gravity is for losers.

The pink one seems to be a natural at the tree walking exercise while Maki has so much trouble with it, it's downright hilarious. Sasuke finds his lips twitching in amusement, which for him as about the same as bursting a lung laughing. Eventually, Maki lets his frustration overtake him and growls out at Sasuke, "What are you laughing at, teme?! Think you're better than me?! Hah?!"

Sasuke walks down the tree until he's at even level with the orange wearing boy. "You know, the only reason anyone would have so much trouble with such a basic technique is if they have too much chakra. You should try something that uses more, and you should practice it often."

Maki makes a thoughtful noise and asks, "Like what?"

Sasuke finds himself stunned that the boy listened to him, because normally Maki doesn't ever listen to anybody, and starts to sweat. He has no idea what he's talking about. He's just bullshitting to make Maki feel a little better. Chakra control is so instinctive to him that he's never needed any exercises to improve it and it didn't seem like a very interesting thing to read about. Letting his gaze drift from side to side in order to get away from the intense eyes of Maki, Sasuke catches sight of a river a while away. He blurts out the first thing to come to his mind.

"Water walking."

"What?" Maki grumbles. "What do you mean by that?"

 _Damn it! Stop asking so many questions, Maki! It's embarrassing!_

"I mean that you should try doing the same thing you're doing now but on water. Water is always in motion, so it'll be harder to get it right. You'll have to use more chakra. Which is perfect for you, Maki." Sasuke breathes out in relief at realizing that what he said seems to have made sense in Maki's head. If he honestly believes him, there must be something wrong with him. Even Sasuke knows that that's probably not how it works, but at least it made him stop asking questions.

Thank god for stupid people.

"Hey, teme, my name's not Maki!" Maki erupts.

Sasuke blinks. It's not? He could have sworn it was. "It's a nickname."

At that, Maki blushes like a virgin and lowers his eyes. "Oh, well in that case…"

Sasuke has a feeling he is being wildly misunderstood. He doesn't care enough to correct it.

Maki eventually stops blushing and runs away to find a body of water to practice at. Sasuke watches him go with relief and makes his way to the top of the giant tree he was in. That was another thing that differed from the world in his memories. These trees were so big it was almost ridiculous and every time he saw them, Saitama got the urge to stop and stare. Evolution can do some truly amazing things.

He sits down at the top and bends his head backwards until he can see the stars. Somehow, without him noticing, night has fallen. The stars in this world are so clear, he can make them out perfectly. If Genos could see them, he'd be delighted. But Genos isn't here…

Ah, he needs to stop wallowing over it. Right now, his priority is his brother. All other things can be dealt with after.

(He wonders what his brother is doing. If he's eating enough, getting enough sleep. He doesn't think he is, after all, murdering your own parents would probably lead to nightmares. But he worries, and he'll feel so much better when he meets his brother again. He misses him. Sasuke misses him so much that sometimes it feels like he can't breathe.)

(His brother killed his entire clan and all Sasuke does is wonder if he's taking care of himself… There must be something very very wrong with him.)

The moon shines down on the forest he's in. Sasuke lets his thoughts go, stops worrying about it and just _is_. Being human is a complicated thing. If he was a true monster and not a human imitation of one, he might just manage to be normal. But he isn't and that sucks.

Life is a terribly unfair thing.

Eventually, Sasuke unseals another manga and starts reading under the light of the moon. Mirai has reached a tipping point in her journey, traveling to a planet known as Hell for its outlaws and scums. She's becoming stronger with every volume written. Sometimes Sasuke wishes he could be like her. Be that passionate about something, be that optimistic or that _happy_. But he feels number with every day that passes, more tired every time he wakes up.

It's not a noose around his neck, nor does it feel like something is squeezing his heart. It just feels like nothing. He doesn't get angry, or frustrated or annoyed. He doesn't really feel happy or sad or depressed. It's like a void that sucks away all his emotions and the worst part is that it doesn't hurt. It's not sudden or traumatic or horrible.

It just _is_.

Turning the page in his book, he furrows into a better position leaning against the trunk of the tree. Soon, the mission will continue. Soon, their sensei will feel better and the enemy will apparently attack. There's not a bone in his body that cares.

For all that he wants to find his brother, the rest of the world is black and white, like a theater being played with overly melodramatic characters.

What he said to the boy was the truth. Saitama (Sasuke, his name is _Sasuke_ ) is the most powerful monster in the world.

This is probably the beginnings of a tragedy.

(It doesn't matter.)

(Nothing does.)


	6. Chapter 6

**If there are any tags or warnings you think I should add, tell me and I'll add them.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

It takes a week of training for their sensei to decide they are adequately prepared and to send them off to do their actual mission, though Sasuke has at this point entirely forgotten what it's supposed to be. To be honest, Sasuke mastered tree walking within the first day and then just spent the rest of the week lazing about in them while the pink one exhausted herself again and again and Maki was off at a river he'd found. At least their sensei seemed to have learned something, because he doesn't attempt to get Sasuke to do any actual training.

During the week, Sasuke finishes reading about Mirai and is at the point where he is crying when he gets to the last page. It's a happy end, if somewhat bittersweet, and Sasuke is so proud he could burst. Reading about how Mirai goes from being the stereotypical Magical Girl to a full-blown space pirate is invigorating. And inspiring. And other words.

The point is, he's read the entire series and has now started on a new one, this one about a boy named Ace aiming to become the pirate king as he sets off from his small island in search of One Piece. He thinks he's already read this story before, but also somehow haven't, and it's a little confusing, but it's also a really good story, so he doesn't really care.

When their client, the fat old drunk whose name he never even learned, leaves for his work, their sensei makes a rude gesture to Sasuke, which Sasuke very promptly returns even ruder. For some reason, this makes sensei face palm and he says, in a clearly exasperated voice, "Follow him and protect him, Sasuke-kun."

He didn't have to be so rude about it.

Sasuke follows the client all the way to a bridge, which he thinks he's heard about before but can't recall where, and settles down to continue reading while their client works.

To be entirely honest, he doesn't notice when the enemy appears until a piece of ice almost pierces his heart. By this point, he's already completely surrounded by ice mirrors. Outside them, he can hear someone screaming his name, but he doesn't pay them any mind. It's actually pretty comfortable in the middle of mirrors, the ice taking the heat of the midday off of him.

The screaming on the other side gets even louder, so Sasuke finally seals away his newest manga and stands up.

There's a human wearing a tacky mask in the mirror. Sasuke has never seen them before in his life.

He feels like he should say something. "You know you just look stupid in that mask, right?"

Evidently, this was not the correct thing to do, as he immediately has to dodge a whole volley of ice needles aiming for him. Sasuke doesn't jump back to avoid them, so much as he just leans out of the way. It's not like the tiny things can do more than poke his eyes out, and he has the suspicion that there are probably multiple pairs of Sharingan eyes in Konoha somewhere. He never did see the corpses. It wouldn't be a surprise if someone stole them to figure out if they could use them themselves.

Oddly enough, this thought actually offends him.

He's pretty sure he doesn't care about a few pairs of eyes, but at the same time, these are his _family's_ eyes and anyone trying to steal them deserves to die. Sasuke resolves to look into the subject when he gets back to Konoha.

The person in the mirror trying in futility to kill him is now jumping between all the mirrors and shooting senbon at him from multiple directions. None of them hit, but to be fair, he's actually got really good aim, so it's wholly Sasuke's fault. Unfortunately, he really is curious about happens next to Ace, so he doesn't drag the battle out like he usually does to spare his opponents feelings.

Sasuke walks up to one of the mirrors and taps it lightly with a finger. It pops like a balloon and Sasuke leaves the battle without a scratch.

Immediately upon his return to freedom to read, he is attacked by a rabid fox in human skin, as Maki attempts to plaster himself all over Sasuke. Sasuke very rationally responds with throwing Maki off the bridge.

The pink one casts him an incredulous stare from where she stands over the fallen client. Sasuke dearly hopes he's dead. The guy is utterly useless.

It is at this moment Maki reenters the scene with a loud yell and screams out a dramatic, while pointing at Sasuke, "Why the hell did you do that, teme?!"

Sasuke shrugs. "You startled me."

All the fight seems to leave Maki in a single breath. "You could have just told me that! I would have let you go! I was really worried about you, teme!"

Sasuke tilts his head. "Why? It's not like I was gonna die."

"You never even train!" Maki protests.

Again, Sasuke shrugs. "It's not like it matters. And you'll have my back if I need it, right?"

This makes Maki blush and Sasuke is once again hit by the thought that he is being misunderstood.

"Well, of- of course, I'll have you're back, we're a team, teme! But… but all you do is laze around! You need to start training seriously!" Maki proclaims and points an accusing finger at him.

The pink one approaches and asks, while blushing and twiddling her thumbs, "Are, are you okay, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke very calmly smirks and says, "As if some weakling could ever defeat me." This is also a line he's read in a manga and wanted to try out. He has a lot more where they came from.

In fact, he has an entire list, he's just waiting for the right opportunity.

The pink one blushes and for the sake of the sensei he can see glancing over them and despairing, Sasuke asks, "Shouldn't you be looking after the client?"

The pink one blushes even harder, so much that he's starting to wonder if she's popped a blood vessel and runs back to where the client lies defenseless. While running over there, she is hit by a needle in the neck and falls to the ground, seemingly dead.

Maki promptly losses it.

Red chakra is seeping from him like he's a walking volcano of energy and Sasuke very carefully moves away from him while Maki rushes to the enemy. What follows is a fast exchange of blows, a mask shattering and a life-story being told. Sasuke is actually feeling a little sympathetic for the enemy when it's revealed that his own father tried to kill him. This is the only reason he stops the boy (Boy? Girl? Both? He's trying not to judge.) from sacrificing his life for his master as their sensei kills the other enemy.

Even Sasuke (for all his eccentrics) realizes that this is an extremely painful moment for the young boy that looks like a girl, and so when the guy who hired their enemies arrives with an army and victory in his eyes, Sasuke doesn't hesitate.

He kills all of them.

By the time he's done punching, the water below the bridge is red from all the blood and Sasuke just feels like killing them all over again.

Saitama doesn't care about a lot of things, but he thinks betrayal is about the worst thing a person can do. There is no second chance for it, no mercy to be had. A person that has betrayed you once will betray you again. That's just fact. You can't change a person's nature that easily.

When he calms down and returns from his prompt killing spree, the boy whose life he saved is clinging to the corpse of his dead master and his team is looking at him with surprise, awe and the beginning of fear in their eyes. Or in this case, the fear is entirely from their sensei and Sasuke can sort of understand why. After all, his brother is a very powerful shinobi, and he went insane and slaughtered his own clan. The unease makes sense and it's not even that it hurts or anything. It's just disappointing.

Sasuke is beginning to realize that Konoha is a very hypocritical village.

They want him to be strong as the Last Uchiha, for the fame it'll bring them, but when they see proof of his strength, they turn away from him. They want him to avenge the death of his family and kill his brother at the same time as they're telling him to let it go, as if any of it makes sense. Sasuke is very rapidly losing his patience with their bullshit.

One of these days, he's gonna snap, and it's not going to be pretty.

For now, at least, Sasuke drags his hand through his hair to get it away from his eyes. He may have gotten a little too excited when he first noticed he has hair, because he rarely if ever actually gets it cut. Which is why it's starting to reach the middle of his back. He should really invest in new hair ties, as he has a natural affinity for losing all of his. Even when he seals them away, it's like they magically disappear. It makes no sense at all.

When his hair is no longer trying to blind him, he lets the Sharingan fade from his eyes and turns back towards his team. The pink one is still lying dead over their client and Maki is utterly stunned, while their sensei looks at him as if he is trying to figure out how fast he can kill him. Sasuke rolls his eyes at how melodramatic they are and says, "If we're done now, I'm going back to the house."

He catches sight of the enemy crying over the dead body and finds himself walking over, despite the fact that he planned to do no such thing. It was enough that he saved his life. Hell, he might have just ruined it.

Sometimes, it's easier to die with the ones you love then to live without them.

Sasuke would know.

But he steps up the boy, who isn't even an adult yet, and lays his hand on his shoulder in a parody of an attempt at comforting him. Sasuke lowers his voice so the others can't hear him and offers, "If you really can't live without him, I can kill you."

The boy looks up at him, grey eyes filled with tears and undisguised sorrow, and resembles a kicked puppy so much that Sasuke almost wants to hug him. "Really?" the boy asks.

Sasuke nods. "If it's what you truly want."

"I-" here, the boy looks down at his dead master and swallows hard. "Zabuza-sama has– had a dream. A really important dream. That's why we took this mission, despite the fact that Gatou clearly never planned on paying us. We were just going to kill him and take all his money when the mission was over. But then your team beat Zabuza-sama, and he insisted on fighting again."

The boy starts crying again as he speaks, but he doesn't stop talking. "It's a really beautiful dream. Zabuza-sama loved it, I think. I… I can't die until its fulfilled."

Without him noticing, Sasuke's eyes soften and he asks, "What was the dream?"

The boy whispers, "To bring peace to Kirigakure."

"He wanted to bring peace to our home."

It's an incredibly sad thing, when dreams are stopped short.

Sasuke settles down on the ground next to the boy and inquires, "So what do you want to do?"

The boy stares at him and a determined glint appears in his eyes. "I want, no, I'm _going_ to make his dream come true. It's the least he deserves."

Sasuke smiles, a slow, true thing and says, "Then I'll help you."

The furrows his brows and looks at him in confusion. Sasuke just gives him the universal sign to be quiet and stands back up. He turns back to his team to see them looking his way with a hundred questions in their eyes. He gives them a soulless smile and says, in a forceful and monotone tone, "Let's go back. There is nothing for us here."

Their sensei steps up as if to protest, so Sasuke shuts him down before he gets the chance. "The enemy is dead. The mission is over. We are going back to Konoha to take care of our teammate's body."

The reminder that the pink one is dead is enough to take away their attention. Sasuke glances back at their former enemy and smiles again. He can see the moment the boy understands and nods, both grateful and grief-stricken at Sasuke. With a handful of hand seals, the boy and his master's body are gone.

Sasuke never even learned their names, but he thinks he did the right thing.

He has a good feeling about this.

When they disappear into a pool of ice, sensei moves as if to stop them and Sasuke activates his Sharingan and stares him right in the eyes. He's not going to let him ruin this too.

It's not the first time he's ever killed, because he's not delusional, monsters are sentient, so it's very much murder when you kill them, but it's the first time they look human. Sasuke finds that he doesn't regret it or feel very guilty or sad about it. He might be a little insane after all.

Their sensei picks up their client who is still out cold and Maki carries the pink one as they make their way back to their client's house. In the end, he never did find out what their mission was.

When they arrive, the settle the pink one down on a futon and just stare at her for a while. When it finally crosses the line into creepy, Sasuke pulls the senbon out of her neck just for something to do.

Abruptly, she takes a breath and her lashes flutter.

Embarrassingly, Sasuke's first reaction is to think _zombie?!,_ but luckily, he doesn't say it out loud, because the next moment she's waking up and breathing again. Zombies don't breathe. And he was actually excited for a moment there. A zombie would have been so cool.

 _What a let-down._

(He wonders if zombies exist in this world. It seems like they could, as this world has even less logic than his own did, though how it works he doesn't know. He would really like to see a real zombie. Depending on its powers and strength, it might actually give him a good battle.)

(Also, zombies are really cool.)

Maki is all over the girl as soon as she wakes up. She grumbles at him but doesn't have the strength to hit him like she usually does. Confused, she asks, "What happened?"

Sensei answers, "You were knocked out by the enemy and missed the battle. The enemy has been defeated and the mission if over. As soon as you feel well enough, we're heading back to Konoha."

"I missed it?" she appears downtrodden at this, "Did it go alright anyway?"

Sasuke answers before anyone else has the chance to, just to get his disappointment out of his system. "We didn't even notice."

She flinches as if struck.

"You didn't even notice? Right, of course you didn't, I'm weak." She laughs bitterly at herself and Sasuke imagines he can see something crack and snap in her. He has a feeling things will be changing soon.

He will cheer her on quietly from the sidelines.

While Maki attempts to calm her down, Sasuke leaves the room in search of food. Behind him, his sensei follows like a particularly persistent shadow all the way to the table. While the client's daughter puts food on the table, Sasuke lets his mind wander again. He finds he does it a lot.

All in all, he thinks the mission went well.

Nobody died and Sasuke was honestly expecting at least the pink one to, so it technically went better than expected.

When the food is finished being served, Sasuke gratefully eats it. He's hungry after all that hard work and fully deserves it. His sensei eats beside him and waits for him to finish once done, once again managing to eat without showing his face or taking off his mask.

It's a very impressive thing.

Sasuke finishes eating after he's finally full and leans back on the chair. Their sensei clears his throat and Sasuke gives him the desired attention. When Kaito-sensei sees that he has Sasuke's attention, he gives him a hard look and states, "You've never shown that strength in training."

Sasuke gives him a look that very precisely communicates, _no duh,_ and answers, "Why would I?"

"We're a team, Sasuke-kun. You need to actually make an effort. A team can't function properly if you don't know your team members."

Sasuke hums and claims, "I know them."

Sensei just stares harder at him and says, "You don't even know our names."

"You don't even know _me_." Sasuke retaliates.

With that, he stands up and leaves the room to find somewhere quiet to read and relax. Sensei is right, probably, that a team functions better with members that actually care about each other, but he also drowns himself in guilt and hardly teaches them a thing. Sasuke isn't about to take advice from him.

He's not sure if today was a good day or not, but regardless, he feels pretty okay, all things considered. Maybe he should kill people more often.

Or maybe it's the new book that is somehow both a memento and not from his past life. It's odd, what kind of things remain similar and yet don't.

Yeah, today was a good day.


	7. Chapter 7

**If you're dissatisfied with this, deal with it, because _I am not rewriting it again._**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

They make it back to Konoha without another incident.

Sasuke spends the entire trip walking whilst simultaneously reading and ignoring the odd looks from his teammates. Ever since seeing evidence that he does in fact have a reason for never training with them, they've been staring at him with a focus that would get them arrested in another world.

Sasuke, in return, ignores their very existence.

It's not very difficult.

Konoha is exactly like they left it, a pair of bored shinobi's guarding the gates, the Hokage stays in his tower and never leaves and people look at him as if they expect him to be something he's very much not. Sasuke doesn't bother to even glance at them, he's learned that the best way to deal with people's expectations is to just not meet them, whatever they may be. As soon as they're through the gate, their sensei drags them off to the Hokage Tower while Sasuke continues his reading in peace.

Now, Sasuke doesn't actually know what the Mission Office looks like, because he's never bothered to look up from his reading whilst there, but that's probably where they end up. Maki pulls out a very crinkled piece of paper, Haruhi a very non-crinkled paper and Sasuke pulls out nothing at all because he doesn't know what they're supposed to be doing.

Sensei takes Sasuke's manga from him and the only reason he succeeds is because Sasuke doesn't want it to break in the struggle. He'll get it back one way or another. "Sasuke-kun," their sensei begins, "your mission report."

Sasuke pulls out a piece of paper, folded over so many times it's almost a ball, and gives it to Kirai-sensei while holding out his other hand for his book. When he gets it back, he goes back to his reading immediately.

His sensei clears his throat needlessly loudly.

"This is a review of Magical Mirai."

This might be the point to mention that he didn't write a mission report. But Sasuke just knows that that just means a lot of lectures on responsibility and other useless things, so he's not going to. Instead, he tries to make his voice sound as serious as possible when he says:

"It accurately describes the mission."

Sasuke has no idea if that's true or not, but then he's not going to stop midway.

Sensei growls. "Couldn't you have at least _tried_ to write a proper report?"

Sasuke blinks in complete innocence. "I did. You're holding it."

Fake it 'til you make it.

"You know what?" sensei asks harshly. "I'll turn this in, and you will get the full brunt of anger that you deserve, you absolute _brat_."

Sasuke shrugs. It's not like it actually matters to him. And sensei's vicious anger is completely non-understandable to him. Saitama has no idea what he's so pissed about. "Do as you like."

Sensei growls at him and drops the report off at the desk. Presumably, because Sasuke has gone back to reading the book he superstitiously stole back from sensei.

After that, they have a short discussion with the Hokage about the change in mission rank and the people they ran into. Again, Sasuke spends it reading at the back of the room and misses every single word. He hopes they don't mention Haku, because he still feels kind of bad about that. It's probably because Haku is both pretty and deadly, the best combination, really.

Even Genos would agree, and he doesn't have any urge to procreate.

When everything is over and dealt with, and everybody has said everything to be said, Sasuke finds himself back at the Uchiha Compound, alone once more.

The compound is exactly like he left it, not a leaf out of place. It brings to mind the images of ghosts and bitter endings and Sasuke can't quite decide how he feels about it. It's where his family (hundreds of them) lived once, but now it's just a standing monument of bad choices and even worse results.

They spend the next few months doing some kind of parody of training. The pink one has decided that Sasuke is apparently not worth fighting for and no longer bothers him by asking him out. She has also started training seriously and stopped with her diet. In short, she has made remarkable progress. It seems like the meeting of such skilled opponents has matured her.

Maki, on the other hand, is always off practicing chakra control by walking on water and trees and walls and really, any surface he can find. He once tried to walk on top of the grass.

It failed genuinely spectacularly.

Their sensei regards Sasuke with more suspicion than ever, always staring at him when he thinks Saitama isn't paying attention and trying to figure out where all the strength comes from.

Well, Sasuke can't help him there. He has no idea.

Their missions after the Wave Incident (as Sasuke likes to call it) are all simple things that aren't worth mentioning. Nothing of interest happens and life goes on the way it always has. He reads along with the adventures of Ace and his pirate crew roaming the seas and get emotional at the tragic flashback scenes. He does the laundry when he no longer has any clean clothes. He buys things in bulk on sale.

Life goes on the way it always has and Sasuke is fine. Maki keeps trying to drag him out to ramen and on the days when he actually craves it, he follows along. The pink one is mostly lost on the sidelines, but she follows with them sometimes too.

It's simple and it's easy and things are almost _good_.

It's eight months after they've graduated from the ninja academy and become shinobi that the Chuunin Exams in Konoha starts.

Their sensei tries some bullshit about how they don't all have to apply, but the only one to fall for that is Maki. All Konoha teams are three people and it's the same during the Chuunin Exams. Maybe not when they're held in another village, one that doesn't emphasize teamwork so much, but that's not the case with them.

Sasuke, at this point, has a standard scroll that he brings along on all of his missions. It contains simple food that can be used to make easy to digest soup and spices so the food can be swallowed. He has books and a deck of card for entertainment, as well as some basic first-aid supplies. There are also some changes in clothing, because sweat it disgusting.

It has everything he needs, and there are no weapons, because that is just superfluous.

On the morning of the Chuunin Exams, they meet outside of the academy, where the first phase of it will take place.

Sasuke arrives late because he overslept, and it says something that nobody mentions it.

Still, Sasuke fully expects his teammates to die during the exam. It's only common sense to always expect the worst, otherwise you'll never be pleasantly surprised.

For some reason, his teammates try to enter the guarded door on the second floor, when it's clear as they are supposed to go to the third. Instead of saying anything, he just grabs them by the neck of their shirts and drags them off before they embarrass themselves.

When they finally enter the right room, it is already full of shady looking people.

Sasuke hums and releases his grip on his teammates. Maki is red in the face, a look of indecision in his eyes, and the pink one starts stuttering immediately. Thankfully, she's interrupted by the arrival of strangers and Shikamaru. For some reason, when he turns away from them, they call him mean and arrogant.

Is he supposed to know these people?

Whatever.

The reunion is sabotaged by the appearance of another Konoha genin, one with grey hair, black eyes and glasses.

Sasuke stays out of the resulting scuffle with Oto ninja, by way of disappearing into the background and reading his manga. It's from the same author who wrote Magical Mirai and Sasuke is already entranced. It sucks that there is only one volume so far. There are loud noises and blinding lights in the background, but Sasuke doesn't notice anything at all.

He does, however, notice when Ibiki appears and terrifies the room at large.

Now, Sasuke fully planned on taking the exam somewhat seriously, because he does want to become a chuunin. As a chuunin, he can take missions further from Konoha, leading to a bigger chance of him finding his brother. But the manga is really good and the chair he was afforded is really comfortable, so he sort of just forgets. The paper on his desk is left untouched and he doesn't even turn it around or wright his name on it.

He is so absorbed in his reading that he misses when people start putting their hands in the air and leaving. It's not until Maki's outburst about something or other, that he refocuses on the occasion and realizes he missed everything.

He hopes it wasn't anything important.

Just as he's about to turn the paper around in full stealth-mode and try to dot down some answers so it at least _looks_ like he paid attention, the window breaks and a scantily clad purple-haired kunoichi hurdles right through it.

Sasuke blinks in surprise and puts the manga way, as this at least promises to be interesting. The woman grins bloodthirstily at them and announces in a loud booming voice, "Mitarashi Anko has arrived! Follow me to the second exam's location, brats!"

Naturally, Sasuke follows.

The second exam's location turns out to be the forest that Sasuke often goes too when he needs to get away from illogical and hormonal teenagers. It's a lovely place with colorful plants, adorable animals and amusing deceptions. Saitama adores it.

For some reason, both Maki and the pink one looks on at the entrance to the forest with looks of trepidation and something like fear.

Nonetheless, after signing the waver that says Konoha isn't responsible for any injuries and/or deaths in the forest, they each get a scroll and enters it. Sasuke is the one with his team's scroll, and he seals it away absentmindedly.

The path they take is one that Sasuke is familiar with and because his teammates are scaredy-cats, they run from the very beginning. Sasuke would like to slow down to take in the view, but his teammates start whining as soon as he voices this thought. They make good time and they manage to find another team easily enough. Unfortunately, the scroll they obtain is the same kind as theirs, so they just drop it in the river they're following and keep going.

This is when they run into a team from Taki.

Suddenly, there is an eerie kunoichi after them and they are attacked viciously. Sasuke does his best to avoid the long neck that keeps trying to bite him, but he doesn't fight back.

There's not really a reason to. They're not trying to kill him, and his teammates aren't a target, so why would he?

Somehow, in the middle of all this fighting and running away, the pink one gets in the way of the enemy and gets bitten on the neck in his stead. She drops to the ground immediately and starts convulsing. Sasuke swears and follows after her uncaringly. The enemy finally stops the hunt and stays still next to where they are on the forest floor.

The foreign kunoichi hums and comments, "I didn't expect her to come in the way. Still, you're the one I want. Won't you let me bite you? It will make you much, much stronger."

"I don't need any more strength."

The woman raises an eyebrow. "Is that so? Not even to fight your darling brother?"

There is a meaning in her words that he can't help but latch onto. Sasuke looks up at her from where he's staring at the pink one, who is now just unconscious, and asks a little breathlessly, "You know where my brother is?"

The woman smiles seductively and it's not an image that fits her face. "Yes. If you come with me, I can lead you right to him and you can do whatever you want with him."

Sasuke's eyes light up. This is a golden opportunity, one he knows won't come a second time. It's the only clue he's ever found and there's no way he can afford to let it go.

"Yes." Sasuke says, and it's light and _joyful_ in a way that his voice has never sounded before. "I'll go with you as long as I can find my brother."

"Then it's a deal."

Before any more can be said, the woman leaves in a rush and in the distance, he can hear people fighting, undoubtedly hunting after her. She was very clearly after the last Uchiha, and there's no way that they can stand for that, if only on a matter of principle.

In the aftermath of the fight, Sasuke is left with a feeling in the pit of his stomach and he thinks it might be elation. It's the first proper feeling he has felt in _years_ and it leaves him breathless in a rush of wonder and longing. He wants to find his brother. He wants to find him and reassure himself that Itachi is fine and healthy and strong.

It'll be the first time in years that Sasuke meets his brother, and he can't wait.

Maki reappears in time to carry the pink one to a cave they found. She's still completely unconscious, but at least she's breathing. The mark on the back of her neck is a peculiar thing, dark and foreboding in color, but the energy he can feel from it is almost inviting. It has a taste of power to it that he's never found in this world before. The woman who left it on her must be one of the most powerful people alive, without a doubt far more powerful than their sensei.

They keep the girl hydrated and she lasts through the night. Sasuke's not sure if that's a blessing or a curse, because despite how nice the chakra in the mark is to him, it's also visibly wreaking havoc on her systems.

Regardless, they make it to the tower without any more mishaps and even manage to find the scroll that they require abandoned on the forest floor.

At the tower, there's a riddle and though Sasuke could spend time trying to solve it, he wants to go back to his reading, and he has no more patience to deal with an at turns worried and excited Maki. So he opens both the scrolls right then and there and doesn't bother to care for the consequences.

It's the sensei from the academy that appears before them, the only one whose name he remembers. Maki cheers loudly next to him and runs up to hug dolphin-sensei while their pink-haired teammate is left lying on the floor, forgotten by almost everyone. Dolphin-sensei is too good of a person to ignore anyone that's hurt.

"I was so worried about you!" Sensei says as he hugs Maki tightly. "I heard that Orochimaru was here and then everybody left in such a hurry. You're not _hurt_ , are you?"

Maki laughs sheepishly and says, "Ah, that's okay! And Sakura-chan's the only one that got hurt badly. She hasn't woken up once since that snake-person bit her!"

"What?! Orochimaru bit Sakura-chan?!"

Dolphin quickly abandons Maki in favor of checking up on the girl that, for all appearances, is dead. This is the second time Sasuke has seen her like this and really, he doesn't have the energy to muster up any worry for her. All his thoughts are centered on his brother, on finding him, on making sure he's _okay_.

It's coldhearted and cruel of him, but he can't change it. All he has the energy for is his brother and he miss him the way one misses a lost limb.

The pink one is dragged off to the infirmary in the tower, which is really only a small room with a few rough beds and a bunch of medicine and gauze. There's not actually anyone there to care for the patients or administer the drugs. Their former sensei sets up an IV-line and pumps antibiotics into her, but apparently that's all he's allowed to do. They'll have to do the rest of it themselves. In short, it's their fault if she dies.

Maki is absolutely devastated by the news, but it also turns out that he's really good at patching up injuries, because he has no problem setting her broken bones and sewing shut a truly nasty gash on her leg. It looks like it was almost cut straight off. Sasuke very much doubts she'll be able to go on in participating in the rest of the Chuunin Exams.

During the next few days, they sat at the tower with the other teams that made it. The rooms are all split up with three beds in each, and they're uncomfortably close together, or so says Shikamaru.

Sasuke isn't bothered by all the fights that inevitably breaks out, or the resulting injuries. He reads and he still has that feeling of _hope_ in his chest and it's a new feeling altogether. He doesn't think he's happy, nor is he enthused about the exams and he doesn't care for the rest of the people there. He's still as empty as before.

But there's a beat in his chest that he hasn't listened to in what feels like decades, a sensation in his bones that point towards _change_ and he almost wants to smile.

It's odd and he doesn't know if he likes it, but he thinks this is the best he's ever felt.

Eventually, the pink one wakes up and Maki is loud again and the rest of the Konoha genin intrude to corner her about what happened. An actual ANBU even appears to question her in private. But she's not shipped off to some other place and nobody is hurt, so Sasuke doesn't pay it any attention.

It feels like things are finally beginning to matter and Saitama is left with a feeling of anticipation burning in his gut. _This is it_ , he thinks, _this is when things change._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

After a set of preliminary fights, during which Sasuke fights some random guy that he just sits on until he quits, he finds himself outside of the Forest of the Death, back in the village proper. Apparently, they have a month of rest time until the next test, which sounds awesome to him. It means that he can just treat this as a vacation.

"Alright, then." sensei says and lays his hand on the pink one's head. "During the next month, I'll be training Sakura-chan to help her regain control over her chakra system. Ebisu has agreed to train Naruto-kun and Sa–"

"What do you mean Ebisu will be training me?!" Maki loudly interrupts him, pointing at him with a rude finger.

Sasuke watches on, half-interested in what his sensei was going to say. He has a vacation, right? He's worked really hard, he deserves it.

Sensei sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan's situation is serious. I can't spare any time to work with you two as well. So, you'll be working with Ebisu. You're lucky he agreed, he's the tutor of the Hokage's grandson, you know! Take this an opportunity to grow with a different teacher."

"B-but," Maki glances between Saitama and sensei, biting at his bottom lip. "what about Sasuke-teme?!"

"Maa... Sasuke-kun can do whatever he wants."

Sasuke perks up at hearing this, feeling a slight sensation like he wants to smile. He doesn't, but the feeling doesn't let up. If he can do whatever he wants, that means that he can take his longed for vacation, doesn't it?

"Thank you, Kirito-sensei." Sasuke chirps, trying to sound sincere.

Sensei cringes away from him, saying, "Don't _do_ that! Just... just go read your manga."

Sasuke nods in understanding, no longer listening. He waves absentmindedly to Maki, already ignoring the red coloring his cheeks. In his hand, his manga appear from a seal in a small puff of smoke, and he immediately redirects his attention to it. He hears a whispered _"So cool!"_ in the background, but his focus has already been stolen by Ace's latest adventure.

This chapter is a tearjerker, where Ace's parentage is revealed in a heartbreaking flashback, and Saitama sniffles a little and feels tears pooling at the corners of his eyes. He grabs a tissue and blows loudly into it, startling the multiple birds that have been following him.

Then, Ace declares that he will become the Pirate King, and Sasuke almost starts weeping the middle of the streets, in plain daylight.

But he doesn't. Because he's a man and he has dignity.

(No he doesn't. He's bawling his eyes out and crouched next to a street-light, trying to figure out how to reel in his emotions. He's not used to this much stimulation for his emotions, and it's confusing, and _strange_ and he doesn't think he likes it.)

With his head in his manga, he turns the page, already feeling his heart turning in his chest. The next page shows a picture of who can only be Blackbeard, stewing trouble in the background. Sasuke pulls out another tissue and seals the used one away, because he actually cares about the environment. He doesn't think anybody else does, based on the fights he's caught vague glimpses of.

Shinobi seems to be destroying the eco-system any way they please, no thought for the consequences, or all of the species going extinct as their native habitat is destroyed thoughtlessly.

It's honestly kind of sickening.

Sasuke rubs his eyes, trying to get all of the moisture out of it before it overflows. It doesn't quite work, but he considers it to be a success when he doesn't immediately start crying again. Just as he's reading about Ace reaching another island, a shadow falls over him, keeping him from seeing the text on the pages. He frowns and turns his head back so he can see the area straight above him.

The girl from the weapons shop stares down at him, a raised eyebrow and with buns in her hair. "What are you doing?"

Sasuke returns his attention to the manga. "Reading."

"Hmm." she crouches down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Anything interesting?"

"Ace is the son of Gol D. Roger." he says, sniffling a little again as the urge to cry his emotions out about this tragic and heartbreaking (and also funny) story rears its ugly head once more.

He feels her breath on his cheek. "Really? What chapter is this? I haven't gotten that far yet."

Before he can respond, a voice yells, "Tenten, where did you go?!"

"Damn." she curses and climbs back to her feet. "We'll have to continue this another time, Lee and I are in the middle of a competition."

With that image forever traumatizing him in his mind, she leaves.

Sasuke doesn't spare her a glance as she disappears from his sights, already caught up in his manga once more. Eventually, he rises to his feet only when he's read the entire thing, and he doesn't have any more volumes sealed away. They haven't been made yet, and it ended on a cliffhanger, so now Sasuke is in a bad mood. He's determined to use this vacation as a chance to buy the next volume the very second that it comes out.

He rises to his feet smoothly, brushing his hair back from his eyes and hums a little to himself. While its cool that he's officially on vacation now and won't have to take any missions, he doesn't quite know what to do with himself.

As much as he doesn't like it, he's gotten a routine going over the last few months, and though he no longer has to search for his brother, he feels a little bit like he lost his footing. He doesn't want to put effort into anything, nor does he have the energy to do so, but he feels like there's a part of him that is just used to this now. Is he going to spend the rest of his time just walking around Konoha? He doesn't feel like doing that.

He doesn't feel like doing anything.

(Even staying home reading manga is rapidly losing its appeal.)

It's weird, because he knows that he likes reading and watching TV and just staying home. He likes it, it's safe and easy and _simple_. But he doesn't _want_ to.

 _He doesn't want to do anything at all._

It's one of the strangest feelings he's ever had.

A week goes by, uselessly. Nothing changes, nothing really happens. He sees Maki only when Maki is running past him on his grocery runs, and otherwise doesn't meet a single member of his team. He has no idea what's going on with these exam things, because he wasn't really listening when the Hokage explained it. The only thing he heard was a month long break and something about a fight.

He guesses that means they will have to fight again, not that that will be a challenge. He wonders who he has to fight, but then he remembers that he doesn't care. It's not like it matters. The fight will go the same way that it always does.

One night he finds himself on the roof of his house, staring at the stars.

He doesn't do this a lot, just when he's feeling particularly numb. It makes him feel just the tiniest bit better to see something so big above him, things that don't care for his existence, that isn't even aware of his presence. He wants to go home. Even years later, he hasn't managed to get rid of that feeling, a heavy stone in the bottom of his ribcage, that sometimes just punches him when he leasts expects it. _He wants to go home._ He wants to see Genos and Sonic and King. He wants to play video games and watch those sucky sci-fi movies where the protagonists has to race against the clock to save the whole world.

He's lonely. He's _lonely_ and _alone_ and that's partly his fault, because he doesn't know how to make friends or be polite or how social cues work. The idea of sitting in conversation with strangers for hours on end make him want to run away, because _no_. No, he can't do that.

The air around him is silent. Even the light breeze doesn't make much sound, and he's alone in a ghost town. There are no other people anywhere near him, and to be honest, he can't remember the last time that he fell asleep without this all encompassing silence. He thinks things used to be different. He used to be loud and cheerful and happy. He used to have dreams and _want_ things and he used to love his family and his village.

There's nothing of that left in him now. He doesn't care for this village, or the people in it. He can't even remember most of his family's names, and he doesn't even know where their graves are. If there are graves. Maybe they were all cremated?

The point is, _he doesn't know._

Nobody has ever bothered to tell him.

But he knows his brother. He knows he's a pacifist, that he despises violence, that he loves his family. He knows that the only reason Itachi would ever kill their parents is if they were a threat to Konoha and he was given orders. And he knows who those orders most come from.

The Hokage wanted his family dead, and he got his wish. But it's like he chickened out there. Like he couldn't go through with it fully, because Sasuke wasn't ever treated as a person, and the Hokage — a widely acclaimed person — most know how to foster loyalty. But that courtesy was never afforded to Sasuke. Ergo, for whatever reason, the Hokage doesn't _want_ his loyalty.

(It makes him sick. His brother didn't have to do what he did. There are always answers other then death and senseless violence, but a military dictatorship won't even contemplate them. That would make them look _weak_.)

(Either his brother killed babies and children and innocent people, or he didn't, and somebody in ANBU picked up the slack. Regardless, they have the blood of unborn babies on their hands, and Sasuke can't ever forgive that. It's horrible, and unforgivable. His brother wouldn't have done that. If he had, Sasuke would have been able to tell, because Itachi would have been vomiting as he killed their parents. Itachi wasn't _that_ thick-skinned.)

The moon is straight above him. It's large, so big it almost feels like its going to fall down on him. He wouldn't even think it odd if it did. Maybe one of these jutsu's could increase gravity enough to pull the moon down. He wonders if the shinobi even considers these dangers before they go around playing with fire. Even Sonic was more conscious of his surroundings than this.

It's almost sad.

Humanity will probably be extinct in a century or two, solely because the environment will no longer be hospitable for humans.

Hopefully, Saitama won't be around for it.

He sighs and decides that he's done enough contemplating of life for a single night. Maybe a good night's sleep will make him feel better? It hasn't before, but there's always a first time for everything.

Climbing down from the roof, he swings in through the open window and lands in his bedroom. He yawns, and feels his eyes watering from the force of it. Stretching his arms above his head, he changes into his pajamas and crawls beneath the covers. Outside his window, a bird chirps and a shadow passes by. He doesn't notice it, already lost in the land of dreams.

—

Yawning, Sasuke walks through the streets. It's the day of the exams again, and his sensei even dropped off a note on his front porch with the times stamped on it. It was about a meter in length, with bright red writing, and it hung down right from the porch ceiling in front of his front door. There was (unfortunately) no chance for Sasuke to miss it and so, due to his sensei's obvious effort, he decided to go with the plan and attend.

He's still at least an hour late, but whatever.

You can't win it all.

When he gets close to the arena, he can hear the roars as the fight reels in the audience. There are cheers and heavy laughing, and all he can think is that these are children. People, even ordinary civilians, are cheering as children are forced to fight within an inch of their lives. As they run the risk of _actually dying._

He forces his way through the door and nods thoughtlessly to the masked person he passes by. The grey hair looks familiar, but they don't cary the same air as sensei, so Sasuke pays them no extra mind. Through the long winded hallways, he makes his way below the audience and finally emerges into the light, just in time to see some guy with a lot of face-paint bow out of his match.

Saitama hums a little in reaction, but just sort of vaults up onto the place where he can see Maki waving madly at him.

"You're late, teme!" Maki announces as soon as Sasuke's in earshot.

"Hn."

Maki's whole face does this interesting thing where it goes bright red, all the way up to his ears, and he huffs loudly in reactions to Sasuke's respond. Sasuke watches on, a little amused, as Maki turns away from him decisively.

Things are happening on the arena, but it's not until the bored kid that never does anything bumps into his shoulder that Sasuke notices. The kid with the pineapple hairstyle yawns and gives him a look of boredom as he says, "Troublesome. It's your turn, _Uchiha-san._ "

Sasuke looks over down the arena and sees a very annoyed proctor glaring at him. He hums again and jumps down straight from the balcony, landing in the arena.

When he realizes he's the only one there (the proctor seems to have mysteriously disappeared) he asks, "Where's my opponent?"

"Here."

A pure wave of bloodlust washes over him and for a second, he thinks that Sonic is somehow here to challenge him again. Sonic is certainly determined enough to tear his way to another world in order to get his desired match.

But when he looks back across the arena, it's some young red-haired kid that stands there.

Disappointed, Sasuke frowns and bits back the ugly words that wants to leave his mouth. Instead, he blinks lazily at the boy and watches as the bloodlust steadily increases. Finally, the proctor yells, "Begin!"

Immediately, the kid releases a whole new wave of killing intent, that makes the one that came before seem like nothing. Sand rises in the air, whirling around the boy as if he's standing int he center of the storm. It's mildly interesting, because Saitama (Sasuke, it's _Sasuke_ ) has never seen anyone with powers like that before. He wonders how it works. Does the boy control all individual pieces of sand on its own, or control them all as a group?

He doesn't have a chance to ask, as the sand threatens to drown him where he stands.

Scowling, Sasuke stands his ground and waits until it's close enough, where he then punches the air itself. The shockwave his punch produces sends all of the sand back the way it came from.

Silence descends on the stadium.

"You-you!" the boy scowls at him as his killing intent intensifies and the sand's speed increases. "How did you do that?!"

Sasuke shrugs his shoulders. He has no idea.

"Mother wants your blood!" the boy sends all of the sand at him at once. Sasuke just barely manages to contain the urge to roll his eyes. Once more, as soon as the sand is in range (which is almost immediately) he punches the air and the shockwave even manages to incinerate some of the sand this time.

Somehow, the silence is even heavier this time around.

Sasuke stands still as the sand settles once more. This time, the boy doesn't call it back, but instead looks like he's on the verge of a mental breakdown. Sasuke can feel sympathy for this, having had one or two during his time as a salaryman. He even feels like he wants to go over there and rub the boy's back, reassure him that things can and will change. Nothing is ever static or still.

(Time is an ever-moving thing, with no concerns for the will of mortals. But if you're clever enough, you can use it to your advantage.)

"Mother will—!" the boy screams, his agony apparent in the way that he holds his head. He must be having a really bad headache. Sasuke frowns a little at the picture. A headache that bad, and he still came here to fight?

The boy screams, "MOTHER WILL HAVE YOUR BLOOD!"

And then the boy drops to the ground, unconscious.

"FINALLY!" an inhuman voice crashes over the whole stadium, radiating blood-thirst and insanity just with its presence. Sasuke can see as the sand moves, and the voice seems to come from there as it says, "FINALLY, I AM FREE! BLOOD! DESTRUCTION! PAIN! I WILL SHOWER ALL OF YOU INSIGNIFICANT ANTS AND MAKE YOU REGRET IMPRISONING ME!"

Eventually, the sand stops moving, and what is revealed in its place is a sand-colored tanuki, as big as a house. Sasuke holds his hand over his eyes to keep the sand still flying around from hitting his eyes and feels wonder fill him. It's got black markings all over its body, as if someone took a pencil and drew all over it. The sheer pressure it generates is enormous, though Sasuke admittedly doesn't notice it. No, he's more concerned with the fact that the boy is still unconscious. Perhaps the similarity to Sonic affected him more than he thought?

Then the tanuki tries to attack him, and he punches it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The tanuki is blown to bits and pieces and in the chaos, Sasuke can see feathers falling for some reason. He tilts his head back and stares up at the sky. Yep, that's really feathers falling. A whole lot of them, at that.

As he watches, the people up in the stands starts to lean back, until all of them appear to be falling asleep. While that is mildly interesting, Sasuke is much more interested in the red-haired boy that is currently waking up, when everybody else seems to be falling asleep. He can see his sensei going around the stands, waking up people and giving them directions, and he knows intellectually that this is some sort of large-scale genjutsu. The problem is, he's so unaffected by them that he can't even tell what it's supposed to do. He wonders, will these people sleep until they die from lack of nutrition if nobody helps them?

"What—?" the boys sits up, holding his head in his hands and staring with wide, innocent eyes at Saitama. _"What did you do?"_

Before Sasuke can respond, the boy growls at him, glaring at him as he demands, "Why can't I hear mother?!"

"I don't know."

The boy looks confused at that, but it's the absolute truth. Sasuke doesn't know what he did, because he's never punched a monster before and have it just dissolve on him, instead of raining down blood and guts. He doesn't know because this is another world, and they still have monsters here, and this one was apparently a mother. He doesn't know, because he has the oddest feeling that the boy absorbed what was left of the monster, and he's never seen that before.

He doesn't _know_ , and some of that must be visible on his face, because the boy backs down. He breathes out a large gust of air and calms down. The boy continues to stare at him with wide green-blue eyes, a startlingly clear look in them.

As the rest of the arena descends into a much more natural silence, with all of the people sleeping, Sasuke observes the boy. He sees the blood-colored hair, the disturbingly innocent eyes surrounded by heavy black lines and the scar on his forehead that looks weirdly like a tattoo. It's a kanji, he thinks, but he's too far away to read it. Out of curiosity for what it says, he approaches the boy, stopping only a meter away from him.

He bends down until he's sitting on his heels in front of boy, staring at the tattoo-like scar. It says _Love_.

The boy flinches when he gets too close, as if he's scared of him.

Saitama frowns a little, unsure of how to deal with it. Not many people are actually afraid of him, because most never seem to believe that he's actually strong. They see his hero uniform and his bald head and they decide that he's harmless, so they don't fear him. Not really.

Even now, his sensei and his team, who have seen proof of his strength, don't fear him.

Maki just seems to think that he's cool, if the many whispers of that word is to be believed, the pink one is too focused on how big a gap there is between them and sensei... well, sensei is just unsettled. Sensei isn't scared of Sasuke, he's unsettled and uncomfortable around him. There's a difference, even if most people don't acknowledge it.

But the boy is scared of him. Sasuke can see it. This boy, who had a monster inside him, is scared of _him_.

For some reason, that makes him feel... not _better_ , but simply okay.

(The boy _should_ be scared of him. It's natural. You meet somebody who can kill you with a single punch, and you should fear them. All the best people in his life acknowledged what a danger he was, and chose to be friends with him regardless. That's what real bravery _is_.)

(Not throwing yourself into danger but staring it in the eye and saying hello.)

"I'm not going to hurt you." Sasuke says, and he means it.

The boy tries to glare at him, but the effect is ruined by the confused look on his face. "I don't believe you. _Everybody_ hurts me."

Sasuke shrugs. "But I won't."

The boy hisses at him, bearing his teeth like it would scare Sasuke away. As it is, it just makes him look cuter, and Sasuke is tempted to keep him for this alone. He imagines the boy would do great at scaring away people that tries to bother him.

Sasuke slips his feet out from under him and sits down properly, with legs crossed on the ground in front of the other boy. The boy stares at him the entire time, his attention on Sasuke's hands, as if he could get away if Sasuke decided to punch him. Sasuke lets the silence settle around them, even as the boy starts looking increasingly worried and uneasy, his eyes starting to flicker up to the stand and the place where all those people with ridiculous hats were sitting.

The feathers are still falling when something whooshes into place around the arena.

Saitama frowns and looks up. There is a barrier in the air, all around the arena.

The red-haired boy scrambles up to his feet as if he forgot to turn off the stove before leaving home. Sasuke grabs the boy's flowing sleeves before he can leave, stopping him in his tracks. The boy turns around and glares at him. "I need to go!"

Sasuke tilts his head. "Can you go through the barrier?"

The boy stops the words about to leave his mouth and scowls at him. Sasuke sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "If you can't break the barrier, there's nowhere for you to go. Better to just stay here and wait for it to fall."

"And what am I suppose to do _here_?" Sasuke lets the boy rips his arm out of Sasuke's grip.

Sasuke shrugs. "Read manga with me?"

The boy scowls at him, but eventually settles down. Out of the bare bones of politeness that he has left, Saitama asks, "What's your name?"

"Gaara." the boy scowls heavier and glares at him, even as he sits still in front of him. "Yours?"

Absentmindedly, he answers, "Saitama."

He's already in the process of unsealing his manga books when he realizes that the boy is staring at him with an oddly intense look. He gives the boy a questioning glance and asks "What?"

"Your name is Saitama?" Sasuke nods in response. Gaara frowns and accuses, "I thought you're Uchiha Sasuke."

"I am."

The boy scrunches up his nose adorably. "How does that work?"

Sasuke shrugs. "I haven't really figured it out yet."

"Oh." the boy settles down on the ground, his shoulders hunching forward and his arms crossed over his chest. Sasuke unseals some more manga and leave them sitting on a pile in front of the boy on the dirt of the arena. He worries a little that the dirt will ruin them, so he made sure that he found them a nice, dry spot.

Eventually, the boy reaches over and picks up a manga. It's the first volume of Mirai's adventures and Saitama is excited to see his reaction. He _likes_ discussing his favorite manga and novels with other people. He _loves_ finding out their opinions of his favorite characters and getting into heated debates over their endings, their motivations and growth. It's one of his favorite things to do, and the only person he can do it with here is Tenten.

He loses track of time. It's easy and happens fairly often. He gets so into a story that he enjoys and when he looks up, hours will have passed without his notice. This time, when Sasuke looks up at the sky straight above them, it's dark with a few stars twinkling down at them.

Gaara is still sitting next to him, having moved on to volume eight of Mirai's manga. Around them, it looks like a battle of epic proportions has taken place. The ground has been torn up and there are marks all around the arena walls. Scorch marks from fire and marks from weapons hitting them. Even the marks that are the result of someone strong punching the walls directly and leaving a crater in their wake. The ground isn't much better.

Sasuke frowns a little but then he sees the red-haired boy sniffle and scrunch up his nose and his interest in the battle that he missed promptly wanes.

He scoots closer to the boy and glances over his shoulder. Ah, he's reached the part where Mirai's mother's identity is revealed. Sasuke loves this part so he shamelessly reads over the boy's shoulder.

The boy turns the page and together they read on as Mirai is forced to make a heartbreaking choice. Sasuke can't even keep from sniffling a little himself, this scene always getting to him. He lays his head down on the boy's shoulder for a better view and above them, something explodes. A scream rings out and a curse follows shortly, but Sasuke and the boy are caught in their own world.

The last page turns and the boy closes the manga with a smack.

Sasuke keeps leaning on his shoulder because he's tired and would like to sleep. He was forced to wake up much earlier than he likes this morning and it's late. He wants his sleep but the barrier is still up. And the sand that envelopes the boy is actually really soft and comfortable.

"Get off." the boy's voice is low and gravelly.

Sasuke mumbles, "I'm tired..."

Gaara shrugs his shoulder to get him off but the joke's on him. The sand moves with him and Saitama still has a really nice pillow.

"Mm." Sasuke's eyes slip closed and he yawns. "Comfy..." he mutters into the warm shoulder.

Soon, he's off into dreamland.

He wakes to someone carrying him. It takes him a moment to realize that the reason everything is distorted is because he's hanging upside down in someone's grip. Sasuke waves his legs a little as a try and it accomplishes absolutely nothing. But he's not hurt or anything so he doesn't really see the problem. Isn't this just free transportation?

"You've disappointed me, Orochimaru. To think that you would even resort to using children as hostages." a crunchy voice complains.

Sasuke looks up when he's abruptly set down on the floor. The Hokage is standing with blood still flowing from a million little wounds in front of him. The man doesn't even do him the courtesy of looking in his direction as he complains about... Orochimaru? Is that right?

Who's Orochimaru?

Sasuke cranes his head back and stares at the pale man standing there, with slitted golden eyes and a sneer curling his lips. The man leers at him and Sasuke can see the amusement in his eyes.

Embarrassment fills him and he jerks away from the strange man's grip on him. When he looks up he can see a white-haired man standing where he just was, not a hair out of place. The man's face is cracked and his eyes are pitch black. Sasuke's eyes slide away to another man with a cracked face and he feels like he just won the lottery.

Zombies!

They're actual _zombies!_

"Could I get your autograph?" he whips out pen and paper from a seal and holds them out to the white-haired man eagerly.

The man's black eyes slide from Sasuke to the paper and back to Sasuke again as if he can't believe what he's seeing. Sasuke frowns and walks over to the dead man, grabbing the hand not holding a weapon and putting a pen in it. Then he hods up his paper and says, "Write."

Behind them, on another area of the balcony, the snake guy says, "You've lost, Sensei."

Something moves in his peripheral vision and Sasuke can vaguely make out something happening behind him but he's more interested in the zombie who's signing his name on his paper. Sasuke feels his mouth pull into something that's probably a grin and it cracks his face a little. He's not used to using those muscles, but it's a zombie! A zombie! It deserves to be said twice.

There's a gurgle behind them and then something hits the ground.

When Saitama looks back, the Hokage is lying on the floor of the balcony, a pool of blood surrounding him.

He tilts his head. "Is he dead?"

"He will be." snake guy answers.

Sasuke turns back to his autographed paper and looks at it with delight. Then he turns to the other zombie man and holds out his pen. "Please." he says unconvincingly.

The man smiles at him and reaches over to write his name too and Sasuke feels like this is the best day of this life.

Then snake guy orders, "Retreat." and they all disappear. Sasuke is left behind staring at where they disappeared and alone. He sighs and seals away his autographs before they're destroyed in the apparent chaos. Then he jumps down into the arena where Gaara is still reading.

"The snake guy retreated." he states.

The red-haired boy twitches to attention and as they watch, the barrier surrounding the arena goes down. Gaara growls and rises to his feet, dropping the manga as he moves. Sasuke winces as he watches the manga hit the ground and walks over to pick them up and seal them away. There are about thirty different volumes littering the ground and he doesn't want whoever is responsible for cleaning this mess up to steal them.

Or worse, destroy them.

He shudders at the mere thought of it and hurries to pick them all up.

It doesn't take him long to make sure that all of his manga are safe and when he looks up again, Gaara is gone. Sasuke furrows his eyebrows and looks around. Most of the people are still sleeping so he decides to take this opportunity to go home.

The way there is dangerous. There are all sorts of shinobi fighting in the streets and people are dying whichever way that he looks. Sasuke strolls through the streets, utterly unconcerned. As he walks, he can hear explosions going off in the distance and the sound of screams rising like a cacophony all around him. Shinobi are rushing back and forth, yelling orders at each other while in motion.

Sasuke doesn't pay them much attention.

Above them, the moon is full.

He breathes out, a lull in the fighting making him stand still. The Uchiha Compound is right in front of him, a dead shinobi laying by the closed gates. As he gets closer, he can see the same symbol as Gaara's on the man's forehead ribbon.

Saitama bends down to take a closer look. A senbon is sticking out of their neck, white froth at their mouth and dry blood on their cheeks. Sasuke steps around them and enters the empty compound, the gates falling shut behind him.

He almost feels like crying.


End file.
